South Korea is majorly investing in Vietnam’s textile and garment industry. The main objective behind this move is to meet the increasing orders from US importers, mainly prominent retailers such as Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, Sears, Kmart and Tesco. With more than 500 businesses based in Vietnam, and almost US $ 2 billion in total committed capital, the investment by South Korea has helped in augmenting Vietnam’s textile and garment industry.
The Sea-A group has been operating in Vietnam for nearly six years and has a garment plant that turns out seven million products a year and has a workforce of 3,000. Korea is now Vietnam’s fourth largest export partner in terms of value, after the US, the EU and Japan.
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Vietnam’s textile and garment exports to Korea have jumped drastically in recent years, from less than US $ 300 million in 2009 to nearly US $ 1.2 billion in 2013 and is on the increase since then. This has given Vietnam’s textile and garments a 24.2 per cent market share in Korea, only behind China, with 43.2 per cent.
After the ASEAN-Korea free trade agreement Vietnam’s textile and garment industry saw significant growth. South Korea currently provides nearly 20 per cent of Vietnam’s textiles and with the large volume of ancillary materials it also exports.
