Hanoi - Vietnam's garment exports rose 30 per cent to 7.1 billion dollars in the first 11 months of 2007, officials said Monday, as the country's entry into the World Trade Organization outweighed fears of possible restrictions in the US market. Le Quoc An, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Garment Association, said the country was on target to meet its export goal of 7.8 billion dollars for the year. Vietnam is the world's tenth-largest garment exporter.
"Entry into WTO has also made Vietnam more attractive to foreign investors," An said. "However, Vietnamese garment exporters still face an obstacle in exporting to the US, which is applying a monitoring mechanism on Vietnamese garment exports."
The US Department of Commerce began monitoring Vietnamese garment exports for dumping at the beginning of 2007. The measure was demanded by legislators from states with significant garment industries, who fear growth in Vietnamese exports will hurt their economies.
Early in 2007, Vietnamese garment exporters worried that US importers might choose to source garments from countries which did not face such anti-dumping scrutiny. The US represents 55 percent of Vietnam's apparel-export market.
But such fears lightened in October when the Department of Commerce concluded that Vietnam firms had not engaged in dumping in the first half of 2007.
"We feel very comfortable that (the department's decision) will be continued for the second half of this year and for next year," said Charles Kim, chief representative in Vietnam for the US department store chain Target. "So the anti-dumping concerns have been dismissed."
An said Vietnam had responded to the US anti-dumping monitoring program by diversifying its markets.
"We have been exporting more to South Africa, Australia and African countries," he said. "Exports to South Africa alone have grown hundreds of per cent in the first 11 months of this year."
