The Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) denied the recent local newspaper reports that that Cambodia had surpassed Vietnam in garment and textile exports to the European Union (EU). This was incorrect, said the association and added that this was caused by a misunderstanding about statistics of the EU's imports of garment products that the association published recently.

The figure was about imports of garment products of the EU in 2015 (code HS61 and HS62) but was mistranslated that it included imports of both textile and garments products (with code ranging from HS50 to HS63). According to Vitas, Vietnam's exports of garment and textile products of Vietnam in 2014 and 2015 was 2.53 billion Euros (USVND61, 304 billion) and 3.13 billion Euros, respectively. Cambodia's figures were 2.26 billion Euros and 2.97 billion Euros, respectively.

The garment and textile export revenue of Vietnam remained higher than Cambodia; although the latter enjoyed a zero tax rate following the Everything But Arms, part of the EU Generalised System of Preferences while the tax rate on Vietnam's exports was 9.6 per cent.

The association said that in the short-term, garment and textile exports of Cambodia to the EU might move closer to Vietnam's thanks to a more preferential tax rate.