Vinatex has set a target of boosting raw materials and establishing a comprehensive supply chain to minimise production cost.— VNA/VNS Photo Trong Dat

HA NOI (Biz Hub)— The Viet Nam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), has restructured its domestic business strategy to further invest in domestic production by expanding sales and distribution and developing the fashion industry.

The group's member companies including Viet Tien Garment, Garment 10 and Nha Be Garment have sought a firm foothold in the local market. By doing so, the group has set a target of increasing total revenue in the local market by 30 per cent.

Tran Viet, head of the marketing department of Vinatex, said the local garment market had good potential as local consumption for clothing and fashion accessories ranked after food and foodstuff.

According to statistics by Vinatex, each Vietnamese consumer spends between VND150,000 and VND500,000 (US$7-24) on clothes and fashion accessories every month accounting for 18 per cent of his or her monthly consumption.

Le Tien Truong, General Director of Vinatex, said although Vietnamese consumers have tightened their spending on clothing and fashion accessories, the domestic textile and garment sector still shows handsome growth. This means the local garment makers have made efforts to expand sales distribution.

To reach their targets, Vinatex has constantly invested in upgrading technology and manufacturing the best and diversified products. In the first half of this year, the group's revenue already reached VND911 trillion ($43.38 billion) or an increase of 10 per cent over the same period last year.

Than Duc Viet, Deputy General Director of Garment 10, said that his company always paid a lot of attention to technology investments and cut production costs to supply domestic products at competitive prices.

Expanding the distribution network is one of the solutions to ensure Vinatex products get closer to local consumers. The group now has more than 4,000 shopsin the country. However, General Director Truong said domestic products have sought a firm foothold in medium and high-end segments only, while locally-made products are not capable of competing with cheap imported ones.

Phan Chi Dung, Director of Light Industry in the Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said Vietnamese garment companies have to make more efforts to compete with imported ones on home turf.

Dung said local companies have to pay a lot of attention to developing the retail network in the whole country.

Garment companies need to work out policies to further invest in designing centres and applying new technology to produce high quality and specialised products.

Le Tien Truong said that to seek a firm foothold in the local market, garment companies have to enhance their localisation ratio to 60 per cent by 2015. Vinatex has set a target of boosting raw materials and establishing a comprehensive supply chain to minimise production cost. — VNS