Vietnam's textile industry is facing great opportunities.

Vietnam has now risen to third place in the world in textile and garment exports and has moved beyond the stage of only making cheap manufactured goods.

Mr. Vu Duc Giang - Chairman of Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) - Photo: AH

Textiles have passed the stage of only making cheap processed goods .

On October 9, at the Textile and Garment Industry and Supply Chain Conference organized by Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB ), Mr. Vu Duc Giang - Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) - said that the Vietnamese textile and garment industry is facing great opportunities but also many challenges in the context of constantly fluctuating global trade.

Total textile and garment export turnover in the first 9 months of 2025 reached 34.75 billion USD, up 7.7% over the same period last year, showing clear signs of recovery after a period of stagnation.

However, the import turnover of raw materials remains high, up to 16 billion USD, of which fabric alone accounts for 11 billion USD, showing that Vietnam is still heavily dependent on raw materials from abroad.

Vietnam has now risen to third place in the world in textile and garment exports, overcoming the period of only making cheap subcontracted goods. Currently, Vietnamese textile and garment products are present in 138 markets, thanks to the advantage of 16 signed free trade agreements (FTAs) and expected to increase to 22 agreements by 2027.

In particular, Vietnamese textiles and garments have emerged strongly in the Middle East and African markets. While previously little attention was paid to businesses, now the Middle East market alone - especially Muslim countries - has brought in revenue of 1 billion USD for the textile and garment industry in 2024 and 700 million USD in just the first 7 months of 2025.

This shows that Vietnam's textile products not only serve the popular segment but also target the high-end segment, with high technology and design content.

Challenges from logistics costs

Experts say logistics costs in Vietnam are very high - Photo: AH

Ms. Dang Minh Phuong - President of the Ho Chi Minh City Logistics Association - said that Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises are currently facing great opportunities, but whether they can take advantage of them or not depends on their understanding of the supply chain and logistics.

"We have the advantage of shifting orders from other countries, including China and Bangladesh, to Vietnam, but the biggest challenge is still cost.

Logistics costs in Vietnam are very high. High costs reduce the competitiveness of businesses, even though we have many orders. This directly affects product prices and businesses may have to accept lower profits in the short term," Ms. Dang Minh Phuong emphasized.

Mr. Huynh Duy Sang - Director of Financial Markets at ACB Bank - added that the textile and logistics industries have the advantage of mainly receiving revenue in foreign currency. When the exchange rate increases, Vietnamese goods will be cheaper and easier to export.

Regarding exchange rates, since the beginning of the year, VND has depreciated by about 3 - 3.5%. However, according to forecasts, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will continue to reduce USD interest rates, thereby reducing pressure on exchange rates. "The bank is ready to advise on the best preventive solutions to help businesses fix costs and focus on core business activities," Mr. Duy Sang affirmed.

Mr. Ngo Tan Long - Deputy General Director of Asia Commercial Bank (ACB) - said that initially when there was information about the new tax, banks were quite worried about the competitiveness of the industry. However, up to now, Vietnam's tax rate is still equivalent to competitors such as Bangladesh or Indonesia.

"ACB will continue to accompany and even plan to boost the growth of the financing portfolio for the textile and garment industry in the next 2-3 years. For the logistics industry, the working capital loan package has a limit of up to 8 billion VND, with a loan term of up to 10 years," said Mr. Long.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/det-may-viet-nam-dang-dung-truoc-thoi-co-lon-20251009210213975.htm