The central Thừa Thiên-Huế Province plans to transform itself into a textile and garment hub in the country’s central region for which the province to spend more than VNĐ6.6 trillion (US$295 million) during the 2016-2020 period. The transformation will make the province, home to six industrial zones, with 50 textiles and garment enterprises.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyễn Văn Cao said that in order to develop the sector sustainably and ensure enough supply of materials for production, the province had co-operated with the Centre’s co-ordinating board of key economic zones to build a centre for supplying apparel materials. The centre would cover 400ha in the Phong Điền Industrial Zone.

Under the plan, the province will focus on developing the domestic market and expanding export markets, with exports being a driving force for the sector’s development; boosting research, product design, brand-building and promotion; and developing a professional fashion industry to change the rural labour structure.

Highly appreciative of the project, many textile and garment companies located in the zone have expressed their willingness to expand their factories.

In addition, to create a closed production chain, the province is also conducting research of modern wastewater treatment systems to protect the environment.

Cao said that the local textiles and garment companies had lost their competitiveness and the sector’s efficiency had also been affected due to dependence on materials supplied by foreign partners.

Also, in the near future, companies would be urged to transfer their production from a processing model to ODM (original design manufacturing) or OMB (original brand manufacturing) model.