Addressing the event, Consul General of India K. Srikar Reddy said Vietnam’s textile industry has huge potential and more and more Indian investors are interested in doing business in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, India is a supplier of high-quality materials, fabrics and machinery at competitive prices and is also a market of 1.3 billion people, Reddy noted.

The government of India is encouraging investment in the textile industry by allowing all foreign direct investment (FDI) to enter the sector without government approval, he added.

Truong Van Cam, Vice President of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), said Vietnam’s textile sector is growing rapidly but in an unbalanced way as the country has limited domestic supply of materials like cotton. 

He warned that if Vietnam does not improve self-supply capacity, the country will not be able to take full advantage of benefits brought by free trade agreements.

According to Cam, Vietnam is in great demand of quality yarn and fabric at reasonable prices. He expected that with strength in technology and textile material production, India will provide Vietnam with effective support in this field. Enhanced cooperation between businesses of the two countries will help both sides offset their limitations and boost production and expand markets, he said.

During the conference, enterprises from the two sides showed their desire to develop links in the sector through accelerating trade promotion and information exchange.

India runs 176 FDI projects in Vietnam with total investment of US$814 million, making it Vietnam’s 28th largest investor.

Last year, Vietnam exported US$31 billion worth of textile and garment products, up 10.23% from the same period last year while its imports of textile and garment materials, mostly yarns and fabrics, amounted to US$19 billion.

India’s textile-garment shipments to Vietnam hit US$429 million in 2017, a year-on-year surge of 44% while its imports from Vietnam were estimated at US$178 million, up 42%.

The two countries aim to bring bilateral trade to US$15 billion by 2020.

Source: vov.vn