HÀ NỘI — The textiles and garment industry gained the second-largest export value in the first four months of this year, after the export value of phones and their components, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The export value of textiles and garments in the first four months was estimated at US$8.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 15.7 per cent.

Regarding the export markets, the ministry said in the first three months of the year, the United States ranked first, with the export value of textiles and garments from Việt Nam reaching $3.04 billion, a year-on-year surge of 11.6 per cent. This accounted for 47.3 per cent of the total garment export value.

The export value of textiles and garments from Việt Nam to Japan reached $855.44 million, 19.6 per cent higher than the same period last year, accounting for 13.3 per cent of the total export value.

The export value of textiles and garments to South Korea stood at $798.6 million and $268.95 million to China, an increase of 14.8 per cent and 40.9 per cent, respectively, against the same period in 2017.

Meanwhile, the value rose by 11.8 per cent to reach $806.23 million worth of exports to the European Union and by 26 per cent to $228.36 million worth of exports to the ASEAN market compared to the same period last year.

To reach the target of $35 billion in total textiles and garment export value for this year, the Việt Nam Textile and Apparel Association has asked enterprises to fully exploit the working capacity of their workers as well as restructure their management practices to improve labour productivity.

Besides maintaining and developing export markets such as the United States, European Union, Japan and South Korea, the enterprises should focus on developing other markets such as ASEAN, Eurasian Economic Union, India and Latin American countries, including linkage with the distribution system in the local market. — VNS