Technological innovation, increased labor productivity in the textile industry. Photo: Vietnam

Opening the way from the export market

The story of the lack of orders and large inventories of textile and garment enterprises has been discussed extensively. To cope with this situation, textile and garment enterprises have had to change direction, unable to depend on traditional markets and products, but need to diversify.

Vu Duc Giang, Chairman of Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Viet Tien Garment Joint Stock Corporation, said that, facing difficulties in the market, businesses are looking for all solutions. to find unique market segments.

For example, according to Vu Duc Giang, textile enterprises are looking for ways to target the markets of Latin American countries, Central Africa and the Middle East market. In terms of products, textile businesses produce many products for the Muslim consumer market, with very specific fashion products.

More specifically, Pham Van Viet, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Viet Thang Jean Co., Ltd. (Vitajean) shared, Muslim clothing production is the direction that many textile enterprises are choosing in the context of export orders to Europe, and America decreased.

Viet also said that depending on the market, businesses would have different product options, but in the context of a decrease in consumer demand that causes orders to decrease, getting orders is guaranteed. Employment for employees is the direction always prioritized by businesses.

In addition, many businesses are also moving to make better use of the ASEAN market because this is not a difficult market like many other markets in Northeast Asia and Europe. Not only that, ASEAN also has a close geographical position. The demand for goods has many similarities with the advantages of import-export procedures and tariffs, etc., so it can help the goods of Vietnamese enterprises to dominate the market.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in order to promote import and export, businesses should focus on innovating and strengthening trade promotion activities towards new and potential markets such as India, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, Eastern Europe, and markets that are less affected by inflation and positive growth such as ASEAN. At the same time, it is necessary to promote the effective exploitation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

Product innovation, greener production

Along with the market, product innovation is also a way for businesses to overcome difficulties. Century Yarn Joint Stock Company (STK) is considered to be able to recover, "turning upstream" from the advantage that the recycled yarn segment brings from the third quarter of 2023, when STK's goal is that recycled yarn will account for 56% share of production output this year.

Experts have noted that inadequacies from traditional fibers (natural fibers and synthetic fibers) can aggravate the situation of yarn exports in particular and textile exports in general in Vietnam.

Not only with the yarn industry, according to experts, in order to improve the export situation, but businesses should also focus more on investing in "green production", and developing "green brands" to attract more export orders import. Because, at present, large markets are placing great demands on environmental protection.

Recently, Duy Tan Plastic Recycling Joint Stock Company inaugurated phase 1 of a recycled plastic factory with a production capacity of up to 30,000 tons/year in Long An. In 2022, the Company recycled more than 1.3 billion plastic bottles collected nationwide. The number of plastic bottles that have been recycled not only provides raw materials for large FMCG partner companies in Vietnam but also exports 4,200 tons of recycled plastic pellets to 12 countries, including the US and EU.

Businesses are looking for ways to cope with difficulties, to turn challenges into opportunities. According to economic experts, businesses still have many opportunities to take advantage, especially businesses have to adapt to the new situation quickly. Accordingly, businesses must step up trade promotion activities, apply technology to improve quality, and find new directions for products and output markets.

According to Dr. Phung Xuan Minh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saigon Ratings, with the volatile market, businesses have no choice but to step by step improve their ability and endogenous capacity to consolidate a solid foundation, increase adaptability and resilience, self-reliance, calmly overcome difficulties and challenges in order to continue to maintain the momentum to promote stable and sustainable business development.