More big projects
At the end of September 2024, SANBANG CO., Ltd (Singapore) held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a factory producing towels, fabrics, and DTY yarns at Rang Dong Textile Industrial Park, Nghia Hung District, Nam Dinh Province. This is Sanbang's first factory project in Vietnam, with a total investment of up to 673.5 billion VND (equivalent to nearly 30 million USD).
With a land use area of up to 103,400m2, the factory is expected to officially operate in the fourth quarter of 2025, creating an annual capacity of 15,000 tons of towels, 14 million meters of woven fabric and 15,000 tons of DTY yarn.
Sanbang representative said that this project will create many jobs for local people, especially shifting the workforce from agriculture to industry.
According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), Vietnam currently has about 3,500 FDI projects in the textile and garment sector, with a total investment of over 37 billion USD. The FDI sector is playing an important role, contributing about 65% of the total export turnover of the entire industry. The countries/territories with the largest investments in Vietnam's textile and garment sector include: South Korea, Taiwan (China), China, Japan and India.
In addition to Sanbang's project, a number of other large projects are also being implemented in Vietnam. Top Textiles Co., Ltd., a member of Toray Group (Japan), has inaugurated a dyeing and weaving factory at Rang Dong Textile Industrial Park with a total investment of 203 million USD. This project has completed phase 1 with a capacity of 60 million meters of fabric/year and is continuing to implement phase 2 to increase the capacity to 120 million meters of fabric/year by 2025.
In addition, in February 2024, Nam Dinh province granted an investment registration certificate to Crystal Group, Hong Kong (China) with the Yi Da Denim Mill (VN) Co., Ltd project, with a total investment capital of VND 1,467 billion (equivalent to USD 60 million).
New destinations
In March 2024, at Bim Son Industrial Park, Bim Son Town, Thanh Hoa Province, SAB Vietnam Industrial Co., Ltd., a member of Weixing Group, inaugurated the SAB Vietnam Industrial Factory. This factory has an area of 66.44 hectares and a total investment of 62 million USD. The project focuses on producing clothing accessories such as metal zippers, plastic zippers, plastic buttons, metal buttons, adding to the textile and garment accessories supply chain of Vietnam.
According to the assessment of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), with a large consumer market of up to 100 million people, high-quality human resources and open investment attraction policies, the Vietnamese textile and garment industry is witnessing a strong increase in FDI capital flows.
In addition, Vietnam's participation in many free trade agreements (FTAs) such as CPTPP, EVFTA and RCEP also helps expand export markets for textile and garment products.
Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, Mr. Truong Van Cam, emphasized: “Thanks to the trend of international economic integration and the strategy of attracting foreign investment effectively implemented in recent times, our country's textile and garment industry has become a fertile land to attract FDI capital, helping to improve production capacity and export scale.”
Challenges and prospects
Although Vietnam's textile and garment industry has achieved many successes in attracting FDI capital, there are still many challenges, especially the issue of raw materials.
Currently, Vietnam still has to import most of its raw materials from China. This makes it difficult for businesses to meet the requirements of rules of origin in FTAs, as well as strict regulations on traceability and use of environmentally friendly raw materials from major importing countries.
According to experts, to take advantage of this “golden opportunity”, Vietnam needs to promote the connection between FDI enterprises and domestic enterprises, in order to develop the textile and garment supporting industry. At the same time, the development of standards and technical regulations on products, environmental protection and energy saving are also necessary steps to create a solid foundation for the textile and garment industry to develop sustainably.
Vietnam is currently in the Top 3 largest textile and garment exporting countries in the world, after China and Bangladesh. But positive signals in 2024 show that the industry is likely to exceed the export target of 44 billion USD.
