Vietnam jails to achieve its goals for the textile industry

Vietnam, hard times in textile-garment manufacture. “The price of local cotton or polyester fabric compared to imported fabric is 40% higher, making it too costly to fully replace imports,” said Jacky Roy to Just-Style, chief executive officer of Kolletions Group Vietnam. Demand is increasing and outpacing supply, explained another Vietnam-based factory manager.

This need for domestically made textile inputs is driven by Vietnam’s participation in free trade agreements and require the use of locally produced fabrics and yarns for exporters to enjoy preferential import tariffs.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership has rules of origin requiring each step from the yarn forward must take place within the free trade area to quality for duty-free treatment.

The aim of the Government’s cotton development program set for 2015-2020 was for 30,000 to 76,000 hectares of farmland to make cotton, but in 2018, only 1,000 hectares grew this crucially important fiber crop.

As for human resource development program for the Vietnam textile and garment industry coordinated by the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, the government had hoped to give 600,000 workers additional skills but only 50,000 had completed such studies by 2018.