The year when the TPP and the Vietnam-EU FTA are expected to take effect, the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) will strive to raise the local content of its products to 60 per cent as of 2018. Said Tran Quang Nghi, Chairman of Vinatex, only by doing so can the group meet the requirements of these two new-generation FTAs in order to fully benefit from preferential tariffs. In this direction, Vinatex recently started operation of two yarn making factories and a dyeing-weaving plant. A yarn factory in northern Nam Dinh province is scheduled to be launched in the first quarter of this year, while preparations are underway for a yarn-dyeing-weaving complex in the central province of Quang Nam. The complex is expected to supply around 12,000 tonnes of knitted material a year.

By the first half of this year, six other garment making plants are also slated to be completed. However, textile and garment sector experts say it will take some time before the new generation FTAs can actually bring any benefit, as both the TPP and the EU FTA have to wait for Parliament approval in member countries and other time-consuming preparation procedures.

Thus making 2016 a year of many challenges for the sector, more so when 2016 is forecasted as a year of fluctuations in the financial market and the world’s pace of growth.