Vinatex earned $1.7 billion from exports in the first six months of this year. — VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The value of Viet Nam's textile and garment exports reached US$12.18 billion in the first six months of this year, the Viet Nam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) said.

It was a 10.26 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.

The United States continued to be the largest importer of Viet Nam's textile and garment products, accounting for 42 per cent of the national total export value of $5.18 billion, a surge of 11.01 per cent. It was followed by the European Union, which imported $1.45 billion worth of Vietnamese apparel, up 8.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, the value of Vietnamese textile and garment exports to Japan and South Korea reached $1.3 billion and $948 million, respectively, Vinatex said. Exports to Japan and South Korea in the first half of this year were expected to grow 7.3 per cent and 8.33 per cent, respectively, against the same period last year.

Vinatex said Viet Nam was the second largest garment and textile exporter in Japan and South Korea after China, and that the nation was continuing to expand its market share in these countries.

Vinatex earned $1.7 billion from exports in the first six months of this year, a year-on-year rise of 10.7 per cent. The group's total revenue hit VND24.2 trillion ($1.12 billion) during the period, up 9.6 per cent, it said.

Since January 2015, the group has been operating under the equitisation mode. Vinatex, holding 53 per cent of the state capital in the group, has implemented administrative procedures for listing on Viet Nam's securities market, Vietnamplus reported.

So far, the group has withdrawn 90 per cent of the total capital from non-core business and has also gained about VND100 billion in profits.

Vinatex General Director Le Tien Truong said the growth of the national textile and garment export value in the first half of this year was slow, compared to the rate of 19 per cent in the first half of 2014. But the export value is still expected to reach the yearly target of $27 billion to $27.5 billion this year.

He said after the signing of the Viet Nam-Eurasian Economics Union (EEU) free-trade agreement, Viet Nam could increase the export value of garment products to the EEU by 50 per cent in the first year and 20 per cent annually in the following years, compared with the figure of $300 million at present.

In the coming three to five years, Viet Nam expects to be one of the top five garment exporters to the EEU, he said. — VNS