HÀ NỘI — Enterprises in the garment and fishery sectors have set development plans to take full advantage of free trade agreements such as the CPTPP and EVFTA.

The textile and garment industry aims to achieve export value growth at 8-10 per cent to a total of over US$40 billion and an industrial production value growth at 5 per cent, according to the Việt Nam Textile and Garment Corporation (Vinatex).

Firms will target markets under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) with export turnover of over $5.3 billion. Of which, export value to Japan is more than $4 billion while the export value to Canada and Australia markets is expected to double to $1 billion each, said Lê Tiến Trường, Vinatex general director.

For the EU market, if the European Union and Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) comes into effect this year, it will help increase total export revenue by $4 billion, contributing to raising total export value to over $40 billion, Trường said.

Vinatex expects growth of 5-7 per cent year-on-year in its export value this year and 12 per cent in profit, according to Trường. Those results will help realise its target of being one of the top 10 biggest listed companies on Việt Nam’s stock market.

Besides advantages from those FTAs, Cao Hữu Hiếu, Vinatex managing director, said this year will see more challenges than in 2018, including forecasted reduction in global economic growth, unexpected developments from the US-China trade war and Brexit in Europe. Those will lead to risks in exchange rates and imports of raw materials for the textile and garment sector.

Domestic factors are also expected to have an impact on the production activities of textile enterprises, such as the possibility of increasing minimum wages or electricity prices, thereby increasing input costs, according to Hiếu.

As one of Vinatex’s members, in 2019, Việt Tiến Garment Corporation aims to continue expanding markets and customer base as well as improving quality and export value. Its target is $1 billion in export value in 2020 with an annual average growth rate of 10 per cent, said Bùi Văn Tiến, Việt Tiến Garment’s general director.

For the Garment 10 Corporation, Deputy General Director Thân Đức Việt said the company has set a target of VNĐ3.2 trillion in total revenue this year and VNĐ70 billion in profit. It expects to pay dividends to its shareholders at a ratio of 15 per cent.

Other textile and garment manufacturing enterprises such as Century Synthetic Fiber Corporation (STK), Thành Công Textile Garment Investment Trading Joint Stock Company (TCM) and Phong Phú Group (PPH), have also planned to increase investment in production this year, reported tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn.

STK said they will promote the issuance of 10.8 million shares in early 2019 to mobilise more than VNĐ66 billion of investment capital for the Tràng Bảng 5 project to increase capacity  of DTY (Drawn Texturised Yarn) and polyester chip for production of recycled yarn.

As planned, the recycled fiber segment will contribute 20 per cent to this year’s revenue, higher than 14 per cent in 2018. This figure will surge to 30 per cent in 2020. 

Fishery industry

Companies in the domestic fishery industry have also sped up investment and applied many technological solutions to ensure the quantity and quality of raw materials under commitments of those FTAs.

Tô Thị Tường Lan, deputy general secretary of the Việt Nam Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said the fishery industry strives to reach $10 billion in export value this year, an increase of 11 per cent year on year. Of which, the export value will be $4 billion for shrimp, $2.4 billion for tra fish and $3.3 billion for other kinds of seafood.

Lê Văn Quang, chairman of Minh Phú Seafood Corporation (MPC)’s board of directors, said in 2019, MPC plans to gain growth of 15 per cent to reach an output 77,400 tonnes of shrimp and an export value to $850 million.

This year’s pre-tax profit is more than VNĐ2.3 trillion, higher than VNĐ1.2 trillion in 2018. The company plans to carry out merger and acquisition (M&A) of factories to increase capacity to meet growing demand.

Trần Văn Lĩnh, chairman of the Đà Nẵng-based Thuận Phước Seafood and Trading Joint Stock Company’s board of directors, said his company is planning to expand investment in processing plants to expand production and exports this year. — VNS