May 11, 2022. Chairman of the Board of Texhong International Group, Mr. Hong Tianzhu, met with Vietnam’s Minister of Industry and Trade, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, one day prior to the commencement of the US-ASEAN Summit in Washington, DC.

During the meeting, Mr. Hong introduced Texhong Group’s long history of investment and development in Vietnam. Minister Nguyen applauded the investment projects by Texhong, and expressed his encouragement toward the Group’s future development in Vietnam. Minister Nguyen also recognized the importance of textile and apparel industry to the growth of Vietnam’s industrial economy. Vietnam’s textile and apparel industry is a major contributor to the country’s export, exporting an increasing amount year by year and over 39 billion USD in 2021, serving the apparel consumer market in the United States.

Mr. Hong further detailed that Texhong has invested over 1.6 billion USD in Vietnam since 2006, establishing 12 textile and apparel projects in Dong Nai, Quang Ninh, Thai Binh Provinces, creating employment opportunities for more than 25,000 workers. In addition, in Quang Ninh Province, Texhong has established a textile industrial park to service a vertically integrated textile supply chain. All of Texhong’s Vietnam productions consume a majority of Texhong’s US cotton purchase. The United States as the leading global cotton producer, exports around 3.2-3.5 million metric tons of cotton every year. For example, in 2019/2020 marketing year, Vietnam imported around 838,000 metric tons of U.S. cotton, around 25% of U.S. cotton export. And Texhong’s Vietnam production alone consumed over 360,000 tons of U.S. cotton, over 40% of U.S. cotton export to Vietnam, and around 10% of total U.S. cotton export.

Minister Nguyen and Mr. Hong said they looked forward to Texhong’s continuous development in Vietnam and agreed to stay in touch.

Vietnamese national radio broadcaster The Voice of Vietnam (VOV), VietnamPlus, the Vietnam Prime Minister official website and the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade official website have all reported on the meeting: “Minister Nguyen Hong Dien emphasized that since Vietnam joined the new generation of free trade agreements, an increasing number of foreign companies have invested in Vietnam. Enterprises should not only care about and make good use of the opportunities brought by these agreements, but also pay attention to issues related to the origin of products to protect the legitimate interests of the industry and enterprises themselves.

Regarding points raised by Chairman of the Board of Texhong Group, Mr. Hong, the Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam is happy to have a face-to-face meeting with the relevant U.S. departments and issue an official letter, requesting decision makers, when formulating enforcement mechanism of the relevant laws that may affect Vietnamese enterprises, to be fair and objective, to ensure the legitimate interests of the Vietnamese textile industry, Vietnamese workers and American consumers, to never set up obstacles for Vietnamese textile exports, and to give enterprises the opportunity to prove the origins of products.

On May 12, Vietnam’s Minister of Industry and Trade will discuss the bilateral trade cooperation mechanism and origin control with relevant leaders of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP).”

Referenced Links:

VietnamPlus: US partners interested in Vietnam’s energy development orientations

VOV: Minister of Industry and Trade met with Chairman of Texhong International Group

Ministry of Industry and Trade: Report on the Meeting