After an all-out sprint in the last quarter of 2021, the total export volume of Vietnam’s textile industry reached US$39 billion, an annual increase of 11.2%. Le Tien Truong, chairman of Vietnam Textile Group (Vinatex), said that Vietnam’s textile industry has performed well in 2021, but its market share remains unchanged. Among the main export markets of Vietnam’s textile industry, except for the significant growth in exports to the United States, exports to other export markets have recovered slowly, even lower than in 2020.
Vietnam’s textile industry is expected to face three challenges in the short term in 2022, including transportation costs that are three times higher than in the past five years; The disadvantage has caused Vietnam’s textile industry to lose its competitive advantage; and there is an imbalance in the labor force, especially in southern Vietnam, which accounts for 40% of the total export value of the textile industry. There is currently a serious shortage of workers.
In the long term, Chairman Li analyzed that Vietnam’s textile industry will also face challenges from competitors moving towards green development. China’s textile industry development goal by 2025 is set at 30% of the global market share (down from 39%), mainly focusing on the most profitable recycled materials market, especially recycled polyester fiber; Bangladesh’s textile and yarn industry is heading towards the most profitable market. Development in the direction of modernization focuses on improving quality rather than production efficiency. For example, 9 of the 10 green textile factories certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as the highest standard in 2021 are located in Bangladesh; India is oriented towards the independence of raw materials, especially cotton threads. Will be the main competitor in Vietnam’s yarn industry.
Chairman Lai believes that green and sustainable development have become the trend of the global textile industry, and Vietnam needs to re-examine the key development directions of the country’s textile industry to avoid lagging behind competitors. It is necessary to capture labor resources and overcome the lack of high-quality management, especially as Vietnam is about to face the risk of population aging. From 2035, Vietnam is expected to have 1 million people over the working age every year; and it is necessary to avoid decentralized investment in production units. Only by promoting digital transformation and automation development can we achieve the work efficiency required for large-scale orders.
