Vietnam’s “Vietnam Economic Times” reported on January 8: Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, Vietnam’s clothing and textile exports in 2020 were US$35.27 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 9.29% . Leather footwear exports were approximately US$20 billion, a US$2 billion decrease from 2019.
Reports indicate that in recent years, Vietnam’s garment and textile industry has made full use of the Vietnam-Korea Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA) and the Vietnam-Eurasia Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (VN- EAEUFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) have achieved leapfrog development. Clothing and textile exports were US$28.1 billion in 2016 and reached US$38.9 billion in 2019, with an average annual growth rate of 9.55%. In 2016, Vietnam’s clothing and textile exports ranked fourth after China, Pakistan, and India. By 2019, it surpassed India and ranked third in the world.
Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, Vietnam’s clothing and textile industry has become one of the industries that suffered the most serious losses in 2020, along with the tourism, aviation, and leather and shoe industries. As the demand for epidemic prevention and control measures in the US and European markets (accounting for 48% and 18% of Vietnam’s clothing and textile exports respectively) has dropped sharply, Vietnam’s clothing and textile exports have been severely affected. The exports of the leather footwear industry have also encountered great difficulties due to the shrinkage of the major markets of the United States and Europe (accounting for 36% and 27% of the industry’s export share respectively) due to the epidemic. </p
