by Zhao Xinhua

The textile and apparel industry， which managed to survive three waves of COVID-19 thanks to its decision to produce face masks and personal protective equipment， will focus on sportswear and yarn， according to the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group.

Le Tien Truong， its general director， said demand for face masks and personal protective equipment will shrink rapidly. Armed with their experience of coping with the pandemic， many textile and footwear enterprises are quietly confident of altering plans when required and finding new markets to cope with new situation after COVID-19 is under control. Sportswear has arguably been the most successful segment during the pandemic as awareness of physical exercise rose.

According to Euromonitor International， in 2020 the demand for sportswear world-wide decreased only about 8 percent， the lowest in an industry which saw an overall decline of 16 percent. The compounded annual growth rate for the sportswear market in the last five years was 6.5 percent， 1.5 times the industry average， and it is expected to be worth USD 479 billion globally by 2025. The Thanh Cong Textile Garment Investment Trading JSC is considered one of the most successful businesses in 2020 thanks to seizing opportunities to export COVID-19 related apparel products such as fabric masks and PPE.

But Tran Nhu Tung， its deputy general director， said the demand for cloth masks and protective gear is returning to pre-COVID levels with the advent of vaccines. This year his company has stopped taking orders for medical protective gear and antibacterial masks. It is focusing on traditional products such as T-shirts and sportswear， demand for which would continue to increase， and there are already enough orders for sportswear for the first 6 months of the year， he said.

Vietnams apparel exports stable in first several months

Vietnams textile and apparel export revenue totaled nearly USD 4.8 billion in the first two months， down 0.01 percent over the same period last year， according to the General Statistics Office. Vietnams textile and apparel exports declined 6.4 percent year-on-year to USD 2.1 billion amid the latest wave of COVID-19 in the country in February. Over the two-month period， local apparel enterprises have been constantly receiving new orders， according to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association.

The growth in new orders was due to the recovery of global demand following the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines around the world， said the association. In 2020， Vietnam recorded an export turnover of roughly USD 29.5 billion from textile and apparel products， down 10.2 percent from 2019， according to the statistics office. Its largest export markets included China， Japan， the European Union， South Korea and the United States.

According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association， many businesses now have orders for until the end of April， mainly for sportswear. Dang Trieu Hoa， general director of the The Ky Yarn Joint Stock Company， said his company plans to focus on yarns with high quality and competitive prices. The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement （EVFTA） that took effect on August 1 last year has reduced tariffs on Vietnams garment exports by more than 70 percentage points. The footwear and textile sectors also benefit significantly from tariff cuts， according to Bao Viet Securities Joint Stock Company.

With most other countries that export textile and garment to the EU not having a trade deal with the bloc， the EVFTA has opened up a great opportunity for Vietnams footwear， textile and garment exports if companies meet origin requirements， it added.

Vietnam apparel exports to UK to shoot up

With the official coming into force of the UK-Vietnam free trade agreement （UKVFTA） on May 1， 2021， Vietnams apparel exports to the UK are expected to improve significantly. The UKVFTA， signed on December 29 last year and temporarily applied since January 1， removes almost all customs duties between the two countries when fully implemented.

Vietnams apparel exports to the UK were valued at USD 734.83 million in 2019 with monthly average of USD 61.24 million. It considerably dropped in 2020 by 31.01 percent to USD 506.96 million due to the restrictions and lockdown imposed following the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. The monthly average apparel exports declined to USD 42.25 million in 2020.

In January 2021， Vietnams apparel exports to the UK stood at USD 27.37 million， and are optimistically forecast to grow to USD 66.12 million in June 2021， a growth of 141.57 percent in five months.

Among the Southeast Asian exporters， Vietnam was the second largest exporter to the UK， next only to Thailand. The bilateral trade of the Vietnam and the UK was USD 6.7 billion in 2019.

Vietnam has several advantages over its strong competitor Bangladesh， when it comes to apparel exports. The production costs are lower in Vietnam compared to Bangladesh.

Secondly， Vietnam is at the 70th position in the list of 190 countries based on Ease of Doing Business Index with better compliance and environmental protection practices.

Thirdly， Vietnam has an advantage of proximity to China， a big raw material supplier for the textiles and apparels industry. Finally， Vietnam has maintained lower lead time as compared to the Bangladesh （approximately the 1/3rd of the time required for Bangladesh）.