US, EU Apparel Groups to Enter Vietnam Next Year

Many textile and garment groups from the US and the European Union (EU) will arrive in Vietnam next year to do business, invest and build factories after the country officially joins the World Trade Organization (WTO), said general secretary of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) Le Van Dao.

 

This year, a number of foreign investors have invested in Vietnam’s apparel industry, he said, adding noticeably Malaysia’s Pamatex Berhad has received a license to pour $100 million into a project in the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in central Quang Nam province.

 

Daewon of Korea has decided to invest $8 million in a garment factory for exports in the Hoa Khanh Industrial Zone of central Danang city following its garment factory in the Vinh Loc Industrial Zone in Ho Chi Minh City and its textile factory in Nhon Trach I Industrial Zone in southern Dong Nai province.

 

Taiwan’s Formosa that poured over $500 million into the Nhon Trach Industrial Zone several years ago is planning to invest an additional $400 million to expand production in the Southeast Asian country.

 

Mascot International, one of Denmark’s leading garment and textile companies, has inked a deal with the People’s Committee of the northern province of Bac Giang for a $5.1 million production project in the locality.

 

The textiles and garments sector is now Vietnam's second largest forex earner after crude oil. In the first eleven months of this year, the industry earned export revenues of over $5.4 billion, up 25.1 per cent on-year. The figure for the whole year is expected to reach $5.9 billion, compared with $4.85 billion last year.

 

It is aiming to reach an apparel export turnover of $10 billion in 2010 and be listed among the world’s top ten garment exporters by that year.