The Vietnamese garment industry is making rapid strides and is expected to jump 2 places in the pecking order to emerge as the second biggest clothing exporter to the US, behind China. This was revealed by the American Chamber of Commerce which went on add that shipments from the Vietnamese apparel industry will increase by more than 8% in the current year. In the process of jumping to the second place, Vietnam is expected to pip Mexico and India, who stood second and third respectively in the previous year. According to the Chamber, exports of clothing were expected to exceed US $5 billion compared to $4.6 billion last year.

The only other country to record a good growth rate apart from Vietnam was Bangladesh which witnessed a growth of 8.4% in the same period.