The Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) has been urged to undertake comprehensive reform to develop its production and business. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s message was conveyed on June 20 to Vinatex by a working group led by Government Office Chairman Mai Tien Dung.

Dung, speaking at a working session with the group in Hanoi, said that Vinatex had undergone many reforms and achieved developments in technology, management and jobs for 80,000 workers. However, the group had been experiencing difficulties in the export market since 2016.

The group must promote further production and business, especially exports, and report on its contribution to growth of the textile and garment industry’s gross domestic product (GDP), its reforms, use of technology and market development. Vinatex should also accelerate project investments and efficiency, he said.

The textile and garment industry had done well in yarn and garment but had had difficulty in other stages, such as support industries and dyeing. So the industry must still import needles, thread and buttons.

The group must accelerate projects with a total investment capital of 5 trillion VND to put them into efficient operation and prevent projects with low efficiency and capital loss.

The group is also being tasked with accelerating equitisation of textile and garment enterprises, given that many textile and garment enterprises have had strong development in production and business, especially exports, after equitisation, such as Nha Be Garment and Viet Tien Garment.

Vietnam’s garment products have entered markets with strict requirements and key export markets, such as the US, the EU, Japan and the Republic of Korea. However, local garment enterprises should undertake reform for traditional export markets, including China, Russia, India and ASEAN countries.

The PM is also asking the textile and garment industry to reform production technology, instead of processing, to create a higher value chain. The industry has applied new technologies for production and corporate management, but it should use technology suited to the industrial revolution 4.0, according to Dung.

And finally, the group is being told to promote internal administrative reform so that managers’ salaries are not so high and those of workers not so low.

Additionally, the Prime Minister asked the group and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to propose administrative reform to create favourable conditions for importing production material.

At the working session, Vinatex Chairman Tran Quang Nghi said that in the first half of this year, the industry increased exports by 10.6 percent in value to 14.2 billion USD. The export value in the second half of this year was expected to remain stable. The export value for the whole year was estimated to achieve a year-on-year growth of 10.9 percent to 31.3 billion USD.