HANOI, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's total textile and garment export value in the first nine months of this year declined 10.3 percent year on year to around 22.1 billion U.S. dollars, according to the General Statistics Office on Monday.
Its largest export markets included China, Japan, South Korea, the European Union and the United States. In September alone, Vietnam's textile and garment exports fell 1.3 percent year on year to 2.8 billion U.S. dollars.
The garment and textile sector is among the sectors hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with tourism and aviation, according to a recent report by local Bao Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review) newspaper.
At this point of time in previous years, the textile and garment businesses would have received orders for the rest of the year. However, due to the decreasing demand amid the coronavirus pandemic, they were receiving orders only on a monthly or weekly basis, the report said.
There has so far been almost no export orders for high-value products like high-end shirts and suits for the fourth quarter, according to the report.
As one of the world's biggest garment and textile exporters and producers, Vietnam recorded an export turnover of roughly 32.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, up 6.9 percent from 2018, according to the statistics office. Enditem
