The Ministry of Industry and Trade has reported that 80 per cent of Vietnamese garment and textile companies have received export orders until the end of the first quarter, but quantities are small, showing a sharp decline in volumes.
Compared to the same period last year, export turnover to the EU market has dropped by 25 per cent; to the US market by 12 per cent; and to Japan by 7 per cent; presumably due to the present economic downturn.
Another reason that led to a drop in garment export turnover in Vietnam was due to most importers shifting to developing countries where import tariff is zero per cent, such as Cambodia and Laos, instead of Vietnam where it is 10 per cent.
In order to tackle such problems, the ministry has suggested that garment companies use natural materials; buy materials directly; and create innovative finished products. Garment companies should now also improve their designing sector, to achieve high growth in the future, instead of merely relying on processing orders.
