Vietnam has set an ambitious goal of reaching $44 billion in apparel export revenues in 2024. This forecast reflects a major growth of 11% in comparison with the previous 12 months and allows it to potentially overtake Bangladesh because the world’s second-largest apparel exporter, in accordance with Media Vietnamese.
On the opposite hand, Bangladesh has set an apparel export goal of $40.48 billion for fiscal 12 months 2024-25, of which $21.7 billion will come from knitted products and $18.78 billion from woven products. This goal represents an 11.99% increase over the previous 12 months and represents a significant slice of the country’s overall export goal of $50 billion.
Vietnam sets ambitious clothing export goal
Cao Huu Hieu, CEO of Vinatex, announced Vietnam’s 2024 apparel export goal of $44 billion, despite a slow first half of the 12 months as a consequence of weak global economic conditions. The recovery within the second half was driven not by increased demand but by political issues in Bangladesh that shifted orders to Vietnam – a circumstance he described as “fortunate”.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Hatem, president of BKMEA, admitted that Vietnam is more likely to overtake Bangladesh as a consequence of the steadiness of its industry, free from labor unrest, gas crises and tax problems.
Bangladesh faces export hurdles
Hatem also highlighted that Bangladesh faces many challenges that hamper export growth despite lower labor costs in comparison with Vietnam. Obstacles in various sectors make it difficult to scale up production.
He pointed to the potential of recent investments from China, attributable to high tariffs on Chinese goods, but noted significant barriers stopping the implementation of those investments.
In the last fiscal 12 months, Bangladesh earned $36.15 billion from garment exports, down 5.22% from the previous 12 months. Of this total, $19.28 billion got here from knitwear and roughly $17 billion from woven products.
