Vietnam garment and textile industry enhancing its strengths to increase opportunities

* Vietnam Textile:

Strengths

- Plentiful competitively-priced labor - Vietnamese salaries are lower than those in China, giving the country a distinct cost advantage; and

- Supportive government policies, including incentives to attract foreign direct investment.

Opportunities

- Main opportunity will be provided by the expected export-based recovery of the local garment sector that kicked in from 2011, which boosts demand for textile inputs; and

- Industry restructuring over the next two years that should result in attracting new investment and boosting productivity.

* Vietnam Apparel

Strengths

- A generally supportive government policy, allowing, for example, duty-free imports of raw materials on the condition they are re-exported as clothing products within 90-120 days; and

- The Vietnamese industry has shown capacity to react quickly and flexibly to new orders.

Opportunities

- Development of ‘non-traditional’ markets for Vietnamese clothing products holds out promise: the industry is looking at the Middle East and Russia as important new opportunities in this regard.

- Greater product differentiation and specialization may boost margins – for example in functional work-wear, home furnishings, and other niche markets.