According to the Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association (VITAS), garment and textile exports last year reached US$39.5 billion, down 10% year-on-year.

VITAS Chairman Vu Duc Giang said that in 2023, Vietnam's textile and garment products were exported to 104 countries and territories – a record number.

Businesses underwent significant changes but they made efforts to diversify their exports with 36 items.

The main markets of Vietnamese garment and textile exports were the US, Japan, the European Union (EU), the Republic of Korea, China, and Southeast Asia, together with some new markets such as Africa and Russia.

VITAS Vice Chairman Truong Van Cam said that 2024 will still see many challenges for the industry, pointing to the extended producer responsibility (EPR) and the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), as well as the strategy of “sustainable fashion” instead of “fast fashion”.

To achieve its set goal, the industry is implementing various solutions, with a focus on diversifying customers, markets, and products; speeding up digital transformation; and greening production, said Cam.