Textile export has ranked second and made up 15 percent of totalnational export turnover, however Vietnam textile and garmentindustry has heavily relied on importing raw materials, hindering theindustry to develop in a sustainable manner, said the Vietnam BusinessForum Magazine (VBF).

According to the Vietnam Textile andApparel Association (VITAS), the Vietnam textile supply chain iscurrently focusing heavily on exports (making up 86 percent ofproduction capacity), and greatly depending on imported fabric sources(accounting for 86 percent of total demand).

In addition, bottlenecks still happen in the process of knitting and dyeing in Vietnam’s textile supply chain.

These have prevented the industry from sustainable development. Toincrease profits and competitiveness, and reduce imports of rawmaterial, the industry needs to advance supporting industries.

In particular, Vietnam’s textile industry should promote supporting industries and seek for more market share.

In the supporting industry development strategy, the textile industryhas launched a number of specific programmes. Accordingly, the industrywill call for investment in the production of polyester fibre - animportant factor contributing to the sustainability of the textileindustry. Besides, the industry has also required a 580 hectare land forplant construction to have 11.6 million spindles by the time of 2025.Moreover, it needs to invest in large-scale industrial parks, followingby supporting material development for export garment.

Morespecially, the industry will focus on stimulating the fashion designindustry. The domestic market with more than 90 million people is thegood reason for the development of this industry.

With thestrategic direction mentioned above, VITAS said that the Governmentshould supplement and adjust the textile industry development plan inthe period 2015-2025 with the orientation to 2035; call for investmentin the fabric manufacturing sector, including weaving, and dyeing. Italso needs to have financial resources to support investment in wastewater treatment for the industry.

Furthermore, the Governmentshould also enhance the quality of human resources; issue guidelines andpolicies for attracting advanced technologies, encouraging the transferand creating a playground for Vietnamese enterprises to grow.

VITASalso recommended that local enterprises should boost exports oftraditional weaving products, strengthen links in the domestic supplychain, increase design and trade capability. In particular, the industryneeds to find additional sources of raw materials from others countriesto gradually replace Chinese ones, reducing the dependence on China.-VNA