Vietnam eyes 6-10% hikes in rice, garment exports

Vietnam eyes 6-10% hikes in rice, garment exports

Vietnam targets to hike rice and apparel export revenue by 6-10 percent this year amid pressure from competitors and expectations for a trans-Pacific trade agreement to be concluded.

Vietnamese garment firms aim to increase export value by 10 percent this year from US$20.5 billion in revenue last year, said Le Tien Truong, deputy director of state-owned textile corporation Vinatex.

Truong added that the local garment industry will have a huge opportunity when the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP) is signed.

The TPP is being negotiated by Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.

It is expected to be closed by April and therefore significantly reduces tariffs on goods and services among the signatories.

Vietnam currently exports almost 60 percent of its garments to the TPP bloc, with the US occupying 43 percent, Japan 11 percent, and the others 4 percent, Truong elaborated, adding that Vietnamese textile exports to these countries will considerably rise once the agreement is in place.

“Vietnam will find more opportunities in many places, apart from the US and New Zealand, in the presence of a TPP agreement with favorable terms and conditions,” he said.

Rice exporters also look at a rise in their shipments, with a six percent expansion targeted for this year.

Local commercial rice production is forecast to top eight million tonnes in 2014, seven million of which will be shipped to foreign markets, according to Truong Thanh Phong, chairman of the Vietnam Food Association.

The remaining one million will hopefully be exported via border trade and other modes, Phong said.

Last year Vietnam shipped more than 6.6 million tonnes of rice overseas, raking in slightly below $3 billion, with over half of the shipments going to China.

Phong warned that Vietnamese firms will have to fiercely compete with Thailand and India for prices and market shares against a backdrop that countries worldwide are placing an emphasis on domestic food production to lessen reliance on imports.

He pointed out that the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia once imported enormous amounts of rice in the past but have diminished their imports and even switched to domestic production in recent years.

The Vietnam Association of Fruit and Vegetables has also predicted prospects will be bright for exporters this year after they earned more than $1 billion in 2013.

Meanwhile the seafood industry will focus on expanding its market foothold to India, Hong Kong, and South American countries in addition to more traditional markets like the US, Japan, and EU, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.

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