The factory of the Far Eastern New Apparel Vietnam Co. Ltd in Bac Dong Phu Industrial Park, Binh Phuoc province (Illustrative photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) – A delegationfrom the Confederation of Indian Industry in Tiruppur (CII Tiruppur) visitedHo Chi Minh City on December 19 and 20, looking for investment opportunitiesand meeting Vietnamese enterprises.
The delegation also visited garment-textileplants in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and the southern province of DongNai.
India is one of the major materialsuppliers of Vietnam’s garment and textile sector, but trade value between thetwo sides remains modest. Therefore, Indian firms are working to promote tradeactivities in the Vietnamese market.
In November, the Indian Consulate Generalin Ho Chi Minh City coordinated with the Vietnam Cotton and SpinningAssociation (VCOSA) to hold a meeting between Vietnamese firms and their Indiancounterparts joining the 18th International Textile and Garment IndustryExhibition.
The two sides have defined garment andtextiles as a prioritised sector in bilateral ties.
Indian General Consul in Ho Chi Minh City KSrikar Reddy cited Indian statistics showing that in the 2017-2018 fiscal year,India’s global export of garment and textile hit 36.73 billion USD, including555 million USD to Vietnam, up 42 percent over the previous fiscal year.
From April to August 2018 of the 2018-2019fiscal year, India earned 257 million USD from selling garment and textileproducts to Vietnam, up 59 percent over the same period a year earlier.
Although trade of garment and textilebetween the two countries has enjoyed impressive growth in the past two years,the two sides have much potential to continue boosting partnership in the area.
The Vietnamese garment and textile sectorimports cotton, accessories and fabric for production.
Under the free trade agreement betweenIndia and the ASEAN, most cotton and woven cotton fabric and knitted fabricimported from India will enjoy tax exemption from January 1, 2019, making Indiaa competitive supplier of garment and textile materials and machines forVietnam.
According to the General Statistics Office,in 2017, trade between Vietnam and India hit 7.62 billion USD, with Vietnam’sexports at 3.75 billion USD.
In the first ten months of 2018, bilateraltrade hit 9.18 billion USD, up 47 percent over the same period in 2017,bringing the countries closer to the target of 15 billion USD in two-way tradein 2020.-VNA
VNA
