No tax on cotton fabric import from India to Vietnam soon

Under the free trade agreement between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), most cotton, woven cotton fabric and knitted fabric imported from India will enjoy tax exemption from January 1, making India a competitive supplier of such materials and machines to Vietnam. Indian businesses have invested in 201 big projects in Vietnam.

India earned $257 million from selling garments and textile products to Vietnam between April and August of the current fiscal, 59 per cent up than the same period in the last fiscal.

In the first nine months of 2018, bilateral trade hit $8.27 billion, up 47 per cent over the same period in 2017. Both countries target $15 billion in two-way trade by 2020.

In fiscal 2017-2018, India’s global exports of garments and textile were worth $36.73 billion, including $555 million to Vietnam, up 42 per cent over the previous fiscal, said Indian consul general in Ho Chi Minh City K Srikar Reddy.

In 2017, trade between both the nations hit $7.62 billion, with Vietnam’s exports at $3.75 billion, a Vietnamese news agency reported citing data from the country’s general statistics office.

Earlier this month, the Indian Consulate General in Ho Ch Minh City worked with the Vietnam Cotton and Spinning Association (VCOSA) to organise a meeting between Vietnamese and Indian firms attending the 18th International Textile and Garment Industry Exhibition.