HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Vying for a bigger share of the Vietnamese market, Indian cotton textile companies met with Vietnamese businesses yesterday in HCM City to promote the benefits of enhanced trade.

At the meeting were representatives from more than 20 companies from India, one of the biggest cotton textile manufacturers in the world.

Manikam Ramaswami, chairman of India's Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council, said that in most markets the council had been able to reach a respectable level of trade fairly quickly.

However, in Viet Nam, their share in cotton textiles was only 1.6 per cent, up from 1.3 per cent last year, he said.

Their share in cotton yarn too was still far below India's average international share of 26 per cent, just 16.5 per cent, up from 13 per cent last year.

"Viet Nam needs quality yarns and fabrics at the right price. India is the world's most competitive manufacturer of these products and has rapidly increased its exports to Pakistan and China," he said.

"We need to improve the understanding of India's capabilities and present India textiles as a good partner for Vietnamese textiles to reduce cost of production," he added.

"We are here to cooperate with you to help you emerge an even more competitive industry, and help your journey to become the fastest-growing garment market of the world," he said.

According to the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), bilateral trade turnover in the industry has developed strongly in recent years.

Last year, Viet Nam exported more than US$77 million of garments and textiles to India, a jump of 38 per cent year-on-year. Meanwhile, it imported $419 million of textiles and yarn from India, a surge of 46 per cent.

"India has great potential as a supplier for the Vietnamese garment and textile sector," said Vo Tan Thanh, head of VCCI in HCM City. — VNS