One of the strategies currently pursued by the Vietnamese government is to join forces with Thailand, despite it not being a TPP country. Both countries are looking at deepening their cooperation in order to strengthen their respective garment industries, better exploit the ASEAN market and increase their benefits once TPP comes into effect.
Firstly, Vietnam would to some degree benefit from a fully integrated vertical supply chain with Thailand in regards to sourcing. More importantly yet, the country’s nascent textile industry could learn from the higher knowledge level available in the Thai textile and garment industry, especially in the areas of yarn and fabric production, design activities and administration needed to build a fully integrated supply chain within Vietnam. Thailand on the other hand, not being part of TPP, sees its competitiveness waning and would like to get a foot in the door. At this stage, the best option for Thai textile manufacturers is to enhance cooperation with Vietnamese companies, moving production to Vietnam in order to enjoy TPP’s beneficial regulations.
A Vietnamese-Thai cooperation is thus a win-win situation for both countries. Last year, the trade turnover between the two countries reached 10 billion USD, realizing a year-on-year increase of 12.5 percent.
Overall, global apparel trade was estimated at 800 billion USD in 2014. 50 percent of global apparel production originated in Asia, the number will have risen by 10% in 2030.
BDS Insight: Being the only low cost Asian country joining the TPP, Vietnam enjoys a major advantage compared to its regional peers. The country is already popular with apparel producers due to its comparatively low labor costs and easily trained population. Under TPP, Vietnam is estimated to increase its global apparel market share by 6 to 7% until 2024.