TOPLINE According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) announcement, Vietnam ranks second among the biggest global textile and garment suppliers in 2020, after surpassing Bangladesh.
KEY POINTS
- Garments “made in Vietnam” account for 6.4% of the world market share, surpassing Bangladesh and ranks second only to China.
- Favorable factors from a safe production environment, absence of the COVID-19 epidemic are no longer an advantage in 2021.
ARTICLE
Vietnam is the second largest garment exporter in the world
Vietnam became the second-largest garment exporter in the world with the value of 29 billion USD in 2020. It accounts for 6.4% of the world market share, surpassing Bangladesh and ranks second only to China.
Due to Covid-19, garment exports of Vietnam and Bangladesh both decreased, but Bangladesh exports decreased at a faster rate, to $28 billion. As a result, Bangladesh’s share in the global apparel market fell to 6.3% last year. According to WTO ranking, Bangladesh has been the world’s second-largest garment exporter since 2010.
In addition to the advantage of good control Covid-19 epidemic, the domestic textile and garment industry also benefits from participating in many trade agreements.
New challenges to Vietnam
“Next year, the global supply position of Vietnam’s textile and garment industry will certainly change when the absence of the COVID-19 epidemic is no longer an advantage. Enterprises still maintain good export orders, but will face many difficulties from the fourth quarter of 2021 onwards,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, deputy secretary-general of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS).
Currently, many enterprises are asking for help because there are Fo patients appearing in the company which make the production halt.
In the first seven months of 2021, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the textile and garment industry’s exports reached $18.6 billion, up 14.1% over the same period last year.
Especially, some main export markets such as the US and Europe increase the demand for clothes and shoes when the economy starts to recover after the pandemic. That creates opportunities for Vietnam to hit the target of 39 billion USD this year.
Phan Quyen
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