Viet Nam’s textile and garment exports to the US reached approximately US$3.14 billion in the first quarter of this year, marking a year on year increase of 13.2 per cent – the highest pace in the last three years, statistics from the General Department of Customs show.

The Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) attributed this positive export growth to the rebound of the US economy, which has fuelled its textile and garment imports. During the period, the US imported an estimated $25.29 billion worth of textile and garment products from foreign markets, up 4.2 per cent year-on-year.

According to Vitas, the US trade tension with China beginning in March was one of the main factors affecting the global textile picture in 2018. If the US extended curbs on Chinese garments and textiles, Viet Nam could export more to the world’s largest economy, the association said.

Vitas forecast that Vietnamese apparel exports to the US would likely hit nearly $13.84 billion in 2018, 11 per cent higher than 2017.

Viet Nam earned a total turnover of $7.83 billion from textile and garment exports from January to March, surging 15.4 per cent over the same period last year, mainly thanks to the country’s participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and its efforts to speed up exports to China.

Besides the US, Vietnamese shipments of textile and garment products to the three major markets of Japan, South Korea and China also experienced encouraging respective growths of over 27 per cent, 22.3 per cent and 26 per cent, reaching $958 million, $896 million and $832 million. Meanwhile, exports of these items to the EU – another important outlet – saw a modest yearly rise of 1 per cent to $1.13 billion, according to the department’s statistics.

With a positive performance in the first quarter, Viet Nam’s textile and garment industry is striving for a year-on-year increase of 10 per cent in export value, to $34.3 billion for the whole of 2018, Vitas said.

In the future, the association will continue to accelerate trade promotion campaigns in both domestic and foreign markets, conducting training courses in human resources and advise the State mechanisms and policies on removing obstacles for local garment enterprises, its vice chairman Truong Van Cam told a conference yesterday in the capital. — VNS