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Vinatex, the country's leading garment manufacturer, said the exports of accessories contributed roughly US$700 million to the industry's total exports of $20 billion in 2013.— VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet
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HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The garment sector exported accessories for the first time last year, after decades of importing accessories as inputs, according to the Viet Nam Garment and Textile Group (Vinatex).
Vinatex, the country's leading garment manufacturer, said the exports of accessories contributed roughly US$700 million to the industry's total exports of $20 billion in 2013.
It noted that, last year, the industry used accessories made in Viet Nam, instead of importing accessories and raw materials from other countries, such as China, the Republic of Korea and Bangladesh.
After importing production equipment valued at VND35 billion ($1.7million) from Sweden and Italy to manufacture garment accessories, Vinatex now manufactures more than 200 million products annually for both domestic use and exports.
General director of Garment 10 Co, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, pointed out that the proportion of locally manufactured content in the company's products has increased considerably over the years, from 30-40 per cent earlier to 60 per cent currently.
While the country's garment export earnings have climbed to $20 billion, the availability of local raw materials and accessories remains relatively modest.
Increasing the proportion of local content in garments will become highly important, especially after Viet Nam joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, because a high localisation rate is an important requirement for exports to the TPP markets.
To raise the localisation rate, Vinatex recently signed an agreement to borrow $600 million from the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam during 2014-16 to build a weaving and dyeing factory, as well as boost production to 60 million products a year. It plans to invest $30 million in constructing up to 10 factories for the local market and for exports.
The general director of Vinatex, Tran Quang Nghi, estimated the localisation rate of the textile industry could rise to 60 per cent in 2015 and to 70 per cent by 2020. — VNS