As per Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), the country’s exports of textile and garments, and leather shoes are likely to increase by 10.8 per cent to $40 billion. The association expects the US to remain the biggest importer, accounting for 42 percent of Vietnam’s total exports, followed by the EU (21.5 percent), Japan (19.5 percent), and the Republic of Korea (14 percent). Meanwhile, the Middle East will be a new market of Vietnamese garment and textiles.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Vietnam’s exports of garment-textiles and leather shoes increased by 10.5 percent year-on-year during January-July 2019 to $18.34 billion. This growth was mainly spurred by the growth of foreign-invested businesses in the country.

Production of garment and textiles registered a robust growth on account of the signing of new-generation free trade agreements like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.

The country witnessed a robust growth in several of its key markets including the US with export revenue of over $7 billion, the CPTPP market with $2.5 billion, EU $1.95 billion and the Republic of Korea with $1.4 billion.The country also produced around 161.4 million pairs of shoes during the seven-month period, increasing by 7.1 percent from the same time last year. Exports of footwear rose by 13.8 percent to an estimated $10.4 billion.