Vietnam textile and apparel sector plans to increase shipments to the US and Japan and maintain an export growth of 6 percent in the two markets to meet its revenue target of $30 billion from exports in 2017, Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) said.

The US and Japan imported garments and textile products worth US$15 billion from Vietnam in 2016. This accounted for 53.5 percent of the garment and textile sector’s export turnover of $28.3 billion last year.

In 2016, Vietnam’s apparel market performed lower than expected, with exports bringing in $28.3 billion, or 90 percent of the target, up 5.7 percent year-on-year.

Due to the fierce competition from foreign textile and garment producers as well as a decline in global demand, Vitas attributed the low export turnover to fewer export orders.

VITAS explained that there had been downturn in the world; therefore, all nations faced difficulties in expanding market even big countries like India, China whose export turnover reduced compared to 2015.

Future with its high Internet penetration rate, Vietnam will see online shopping surging soon. Supply chain, distribution and retail channels, marketing channels, performance measurement and store turnover will all need to be re-assessed in this new reality.

The state-run Vietnam National Textile And Garment Group (Vinatex) General director Le Tien Tuong said that his group strives to push up production by 14 percent compared to last year. The group will make the effort to increase export turnover by 11 percent and import turnover by 9 percent. To complete the goal, Vinatex will focus on expanding its markets more especially key markets such as the US, EU, and Japan.