HCM City (VNA) - Foreigninvestment is needed to address the capital shortage in the production oftextile and garment materials in Vietnam. In fact, to meet the demand forclothes and ancillary materials for outsourcing enterprises by 2025, Vietnamneeds some 22 billion USD invested in textiles and dyeing.

Textiles and garment is Vietnam’s third largest export sector,with turnover reaching 28 billion USD last year. However, the country has notbeen proactive in obtaining raw materials. As a result, to reach its exportturnover, the textiles and garment sector consumed 8.9 billion sq.m.of cloth, of which domestic factories were able to produce only 2.8 billionsq.m., while six billion sq.m. of cloth was imported, worth 17 billion USD.

According to Nguyen Van Tuan, Chairman of the Vietnam Cottonand Spinning Association (VCOSA), apart from financial potential, foreigntextile corporations also have a lot of experience in developing a synchronousproduction chain of textiles, fiber, weaving, dyeing and design.

This would be an opportunity for Vietnamese garment enterprises toaccess and learn technologies and strategies for long-term development, he said.

Pham Xuan Hong, Chairman of the HCM City Association ofGarment Textile Embroidery-Knitting (Agtek), said the country’s participationin free trade agreements (FTAs) had contributed to the development of both thecommercial value and internal strength of the Vietnamese textile and garmentindustry.

In terms of foreign investors, Sunny Huang, executivedirector of New Wide Group, said Vietnam has a lot of potential toattract textile and garment investment. Besides an abundant labour force andlow cost of living, Vietnam also has infrastructure and transport networkadvantages, and the electricity and water supplies are better than in someother countries in the region, he added.

ﷺ[Local textile, garment firms yet to reap FTA benefits]

However, many argue that in the long run, Vietnam’s textileand garment industry should not just attract foreign investors, but should alsofocus on high quality human resource training for the industry’s development.

According to Nguyen Hong Giang, Director of Sao Viet ConsultingJSC, associations, enterprises and training institutions should work closelyfor the development of professional criteria and skills for the textile andgarment industry in general, and for weaving and dyeing in particular.

In addition, businesses should invest in the construction oftraining facilities and enable students to practice at factories so that theycan meet the employers’ requirements immediately after graduation, Giangsaid.-VNA