Mergers, acquisitions increase in textiles, garments market

In 2015, Viet Nam has issued investment licences for 30 textile and garment projects while foreign investment in industry was expected to continue increasing in the near future. - VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh

According to the HCM City Association of Garment - Textile - Embroidery - Knitting (AGTEK), there was a wave of mergers and acquisitions in local garment and textile sectors as local enterprises found they could not fulfill requested orders due to their limitations in capital.

Pham Xuan Hong, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), said medium- and large-sized enterprises have maintained stable production and business, but small-sized firms have faced many difficulties in their business. Therefore, recently, many small textile and garment companies have sold their workshops and machines and entered other sectors.

In addition, some local enterprises have sold part of their factories to foreign investors, he said, including Chinese investors who have developed a system of processing and production for export products in Viet Nam to take advantage of the TPP deal.

Nguyen Van Hoan, former head of Ha Noi Industrial, Textile, Garment and Fashion College, said foreign investors had difficulties in expanding their production in Viet Nam because some provinces and cities have limited foreign investment in the garment and textile sectors due to concerns about environmental pollution. This has prompted foreign investors to purchase local textile and garment companies that already have production lines and employees.

Further, the Ministry of Planning and Investment said management offices carefully weighed requests before issuing investment licences for large textile and garment projects, since textile, fiber production and dyeing projects often cause environmental problems, reported vnexpress.net. So, some investors have bought factories from local partners.

In 2015, Viet Nam has issued investment licences for 30 textile and garment projects while foreign investment in industry was expected to continue increasing in the near future.

In 2016, part of the US$300 million provided by the Indian government would include investments in projects to manufacture textile and garment materials in Viet Nam, as part of the cooperation between the governments of Viet Nam and India.