Trade deal hopes put Vietnam on radar
Prospect of export privileges for US market spurs rush by mainland garment makers to set up factories as the country's fortunes improve
After years of sharp inflation, bad bank loans and slowing growth, Vietnam is back on the radar of investors as Chinese manufacturers race to expand in the country in the expectation of securing duty-free privileges on their apparel exports to the United States.
If Vietnam can close a deal with the US and nine other countries participating in the next round of talks of the Transpacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), it could halve or nullify a 17 per cent duty the US currently levies on Vietnamese garment exports.
That would give Vietnam an edge over exports from China, which now commands a 37 per cent share of the US textile and apparel market, and provide yet another reason for manufacturers in China to move their production bases.
Attracted by those prospects, Texhong Textile, which sold 6.15 billion yuan (HK$7.7 billion) in yarns last year, is planning further expansion in Vietnam before even starting on the second phase of expansion already on the drawing boards.
"Textile exports from Vietnam already enjoy zero duty to China. If they had zero-duty access to the US as well, our planned additional capacity wouldn't be enough," Hong Tianzhu, Texhong's chairman, told the South China Morning Post.
The first round of the TPP talks just ended in Lima covered issues including patents, cross-border trade of services and legal issues. But a textile deal was one of the highlights and in order to secure duty-free status, Vietnam must agree that all manufacturing processes, including yarn spinning, knitting and dyeing, will be carried out in a TPP member country.
Hong said that an agreement would fuel a new round of foreign investment in Vietnam.