Owing to “unstable” policies, it is feared, several textile and apparel companies are leaving the market.
Addressing a workshop held by the World Bank (WB) and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Truong Van Cam, Deputy Secretary General of Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), said, “Many textile and garment companies are leaving the market because of the state’s unstable policies.
“A garment company wanted to import a printer to make products for export and it took the company’s owner six months to obtain the import license,” he said, citing an example to show how current policies cause difficulties for enterprises.
“This was because, the Decree 60 stipulated that business owners must have a junior college degree to be able to import printers,” he said on Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon.
According to a business house in Nam Dinh province, which have around 2,000-odd employees , said it has to pay VND40-50 billion additionally every month because of the required higher minimum wage and trade union fee. “The state’s policies need to be designed in a way to encourage investors to do business and stay in the market,” he remarked.
According to industry analysts, the Vietnam government seems too optimistic about the TPP and its potential role in the growth of the textile and garment sector in the country. However, a large number of textile and garment companies reject this opinion.
According to Pham Xuan Hong, Chairman of HCMC Textile, Garment, Knitting and Embroidery Association, the profits earned by Vietnamese enterprises are “modest”, because they mostly work for foreign brands who have outsourced their manufacturing to Vietnam to cut costs, and about 60 to 70 per cent materials needed for manufacturing are imported from China.
In 2015, Vietnam exported textile and garment products, worth $27 billion, 60 per cent of which went to TPP member countries. However, most of the money generated from here went to foreign invested enterprises (FIEs). Now, with TPP’s strict conditions regarding the origin of products, it is feared, Vietnam would not be able to make much from this partnership.
Out of Vietnam’s 6,000-odd textile and garment firms, garment companies account for around 70 per cent. Of this, only 17 per cent are textile enterprises, 6 per cent spinning, 4 per cent dying enterprises and 3 per cent makers of input materials and accessories. Vietnam now seems to have manpower skilled in the last phases of the production chain — cutting – assembling – trimming — but a much lesser number less in dyeing and weaving (around 30 per cent).
Unless Vietnam rethinks its national policies relating to the industry, it can not expect investors to do business here and stay in the market.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
