HCM City (VNA) – Vietnam and theRepublic of Korea (RoK) have secured successful outcomes in the textiles sectorbased on their establishment of a cooperative system that supplements oneanother with technology and human resources.

According to Ahn Seong Ho, Trade Counsellor atthe RoK’s Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, the two countries have enjoyedfruitful economic cooperation over the years, with two-way trade growing by morethan 20 percent annually to reach 64 billion USD in 2017. The Vietnam-KoreaFree Trade Agreement (VKFTA) will be soon coming into effect, opening up moreopportunities for bilateral trade.

The RoK holds strengths in the field of technology,while Vietnam has an abundant supply of labourers – a supplementary factor inthe bilateral partnership, he said.

In 2017, RoK firms invested in 44 textileprojects in Vietnam, with a combined registered capital of 178.16 million USD.These projects use modern technologies and have a particular design focus.

Statistics from the Korea International TradeAssociation showed that in the first three months of 2018, Vietnamese textileproducts made up 34.05 percent of the Korean market in terms of value, anannual increase of 2.33 percent. These figures helped Vietnam rise to the topin terms of textile imports, surpassing China.

Vu Duc Giang, President of the Vietnam Textilesand Apparel Association (VITAS), said the RoK is among several countries with themost foreign direct investment in Vietnam, particularly in the textile sector.

According to him, in a bid to enhance the Vietnam-RoKcollaboration in the textile industry, VITAS and the Korea Institute ofIndustrial Technology (KITECH) have jointly organised a host of activities ontrade promotion, technological transfer, and personnel training over the pastthree years.

Giang said VITAS and KITECH have planned tostep up their collaboration in the future.

Nam Seung Il, Director of Fashion Sales Researchat the Korean-based E-Land Group, advised Vietnamese firms who wish to acquiremore share in the RoK market to pay special attention to apparel materials andfunctions.

He suggested that garments should be made wrinkle-resistant,dry fast, and comfortable, adding that Korean consumers prefer items withfeathers to boost warmth.

Experts have explained how fashion is shiftingfrom seasonal trends to periodical trends, with trend lifecycles spanning fromfour to five weeks. As a result, automatic technologies in textile production areneeded to to cut manufacturing times so items can be shelf-ready quickly.-VNA