Despite a 5.01 per cent increase in export turnover, and a 3.21 per cent rise in total goods exported in comparison with 2014, Vietnam’s shipments only occupied 3.45 per cent of the textile market share in the European Union last year. Cambodia’s market share was 3.64 per cent in the EU, 0.19 per cent higher than Vietnam’s. In 2015, the EU imported $3.11 billion worth of apparel from Vietnam, and products from Cambodia accounted for $3.27 billion.

So, although Vietnam was ranked among the top 10 in apparel exports to the European Union in 2015, it was outperformed by Cambodia. In January-February this year, Vietnam’s total garment and textile export turnover topped $3.6 billion, 12.4 per cent higher than the same period in 2015. Despite this, most Vietnamese exporters said their unit price tended to level off while some even had to lower their rate by 0.5 to one per cent.

The average unit price of Cambodian garments and textiles was lower than that of 2014. In the EU region, China led the board with 36.9 per cent, followed by Bangladesh, Turkey, India, Cambodia, and Vietnam, with 16.89, 11.62, 6.33, 3.64, and 3.45 per cent respectively.