Doanh nghiệp dệt may việt nam trong bối cảnh cách mạng công nghiệp lần thứ tư tt tieng anh

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

TRAN THI VAN ANH

VIETNAMESE TEXTILE AND GARMENT
ENTERPRISES IN THE CONEXT OF THE
FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
TÀI THỦY-BỘ
NỘI ĐỊA Ở ĐỒNG BẰNG SÔNG CỬU LONG
Concentration:
Code:

Development Economics
9.31.01.05

SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS

HA NOI – 2019


This doctoral thesis is accomplished at:
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Academic advisors:
1. Dr. Phi Vinh Tuong
2. Dr. Duong Dinh Giam

Reviewer 1: Prof. PhD. Do Duc Binh

Reviewer 2: Assoc. Prof. PhD. Vu Hung Cuong

Reviewer 3: Assoc. Prof. PhD. Nguyen Van Thao
This doctoral thesis is to be defended before the Thesis Defense Committee
of the Graduate Academy of Social Sciences,

at: Graduate Academy of Social Sciences, 477 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan,
Hanoi
Time:

Date:

Archived at:
-

Library of the Graduate Academy of Social Sciences

-

Vietnam National Library


INTRODUCTION
1. Research justification
Textile and garment enterprises in Vietnam have been utilizing most
of development opportunities brough about by international economic
integration, particularly after Vietnam’s official membership of the World
Trade Organization (WTO). The developtment of Vietnam’s textile and
garment enterprises have contributed to the increase of earnings in foreign
currency and the textile and garment export turnover, which climbed from
USD 5.85 billion in 2006 to USD 36.14 billion in 2018, seven times bigger

after one decade. This development reflected more clearly in the export
structure of Vietnam’s textile and garment industry. Besides garment
products as the main export, the textile and garment enterprises have traded
internationally products such as fibers, fabrics, textile materials or nonwoven fabrics. The total export value of fibers, fabrics or textile materials
in 2018, which were were respectively USD 3.95 billion, USD 1.66 billion
and USD 1.23 billion, was higher than the total export value of 2006.
The development of textile and garment enterprises have also
increased the labor demand. In recent years, the textile and garment labor
force has accounted for more than 20% of the total employment in
manufacturing and nearly 5% of the country’s labor force. The industry in
2017 created about 2.5 million jobs, of which 80% were for female
workers.
With such development, the textile and garment industry has been
contributing to the process of industrialization and modernization, the
transformation of economic and labor structures, and economic growth.
Morever, the growth of textile and garment enterprises also acts a buffer for
the economy against shocks due to negative impacts of international or
domestic crises. Even in the period of economic crisis, Vietnam’s textile
and garment export turnover reached USD 9.12 billion in 2008 and USD
9.07 billion in 2009, higher than that of 2006 and 2007.
Despite such contribution to Vietnam’s economic achievements,
textile and garment enterprises face certain obstacles in development.
These have been the focus of many studies, such as investment
mobilization for production expansion, technological renovation, labor
quality and fluctuation of labor number, limited capacity for research and

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development (R&D), or barriers in evlevating to higher value-added phases

of the global value chains.
While the aforementioned development issues are still being
addressed, the fourth industrial revolution taking place in recent decades
continues to pose new development challenges and issues for Vietnam’s
textile and garment enterprises. Under the influence of the fourth industrial
revolution or Industry 4.0 (hereinafter referred to as Industry 4.0), the
technology and methods for textile and garment production would have
fundamentally changed, not only for the matter of how to produce but also
to produce for which market sizes thanks to the application of new internetbased technologies.
More than ever, enterprises in developed economies with the early
application of the achievements of Industry 4.0 and international economic
integration have gain advantages and posed challenges for businesses in
developing and transitioning economies, including Vietnam. While the role
of textile and garment enterprises in the process of industrialization and
modernization in developing and transitioning economies is undeniable,
promoting the development of these enterprises faces increasing
difficulties.
In order to reach the goals of industrialization and modernization in
the context of Industry 4.0, the continued promotion of Vietnamese textile
and garment enterprises is necessary because of its important roles in the
economy in terms of job creation, contribution to the state budget,
transformation of economic structure, and as a buffer against the shocks
caused by structural changes and integration. With that important role of
textile and garment enterprises and challenges brought by Industry 4.0, the
author selected the topic of “Vietnam Textile and Garment Enterprises in
the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution” for a doctoral thesis.
2. Rationale and research objectives
2.1 Rationale
The aim of the thesis is to clarify the development issues of
Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises in the context of the ongoing

Industry 4.0 and propose a number of textile and garment enterprise
development solutions.
2.2 Research objectives

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The thesis aims at specific research objectives as follows:
To identify some theoretical issues on enterprise development,
focusing on determinant factors to the development of textile and garment
enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0; to draw some practical lessons
learned from the practices of textile and garment development in some
countries.
To assess the current development situation of Vietnam’s textile
and garment enterprises in the period of 2007-2018 in order to identify
some development issues; to analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats facing these enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0.
To propose some solutions for the development of textile and
garment enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0 from the author’s
viewpoints.
3. Research focus and scope of study
3.1. Research focus
The research focuses on the development of Vietnamese textile and
garment enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0.
3.2. Scope of study
- The research focuses on the development issues of Vietnamese textile and
garment enterprises within the territory of Vietnam.
- The development issues of Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises
within the territory of Vietnam are studied for the period of 2007-2018
although Industry 4.0 only began in 2014. The proposed solutions are

designed for the period 2020-2025 with vision to 2030.
4. Research approach and methodology
4.1 Research approach
Based on the combination of enterprise and value chain theories, the thesis
assesses the recent development of textile and garment enterprises in
Vietnam and identifies the factors affecting their development; to analyze
opportunities and challenges facing textile and garment enterprises in the
context of Industry 4.0 and to offer specific solutions and recommendations
to promote their development thereby.

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4.2 Methodology
The thesis adopts qualitative research methods with the following
analytical tools:
Desk research: This method is used bfor the review of literature,
both in theory and practice, to clarify the theoretical and practical issues
that have been resolved regarding the textile and garment enterprise
development. This lays a groundwork for the author to identify research
gaps for the selected issues and for the contents and analytical methods that
can be inherited from previous studies.
Methods applied include generalization and comparative analysis,
statistical description, inductive and deductive reasoning: These methods
are used to analyze and assess the development situation of textile and
garment enterprises in 2007-2017, to synthesize development issues and to
compare development issues of Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises
before and after Industry 4.0 takes place.
In-depth interviews were also applied to clarify some specific
development issues of Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises, for

example the connection between Vietnamese textile and garment
enterprises and foreign enterprises in the global textile and garment value
chain. The author interviewed a number of experts in the indutry, including
experts of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group, the
Association of Garment Textile Embroidery and Knitting in Ho Chi Minh
City, and several leaders of textile and garment companies in Hanoi and Ho
Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh (with attached list). Not only applied to the
implementation of the situation analysis content, this method is also used in
better understanding the opportunities and challenges of development of
Vietnamese textile enterprises in the coming period.
SWOT analysis was used in Chapters 3 and 4, which helps to clarify
the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of
Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0.
Based on SWOT analysis, the thesis proposes solution groups for the
aforementioned issues.
5. Scientific contributions
Firstly, the thesis contributes to systematization of theoretical and
practical issues on the development of textile and garment enterprises with

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rapid development of production and business models under the influence
of Industry 4.0. It is, thereby, to identify criteria to assess the development
of these enterprises in the new context.
Secondly, the development of Vietnamese textile and garment
enterprises in the period of 2007-2018 is assessed on the basis of applying
the aforementioned theoretical basis and the development issues of
Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises are identified accordingly in the
period before and after Industry 4.0 is officially discussed by scholars and

policy makers (2014).
Thirdly, the thesis provides explanation for influencing factors to the
development of these enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0 and also fo
the causes of their development issues.
Lastly, a number of solutions are proposed in order to develop
Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises in a new context, which are
based on the views and orientations of the author from the perspective of
Industry 4.0.
6. Theoretical and practical significance
Theoretically, the thesis identifies more theoretical issues on
enterprise development in the context of traditional (i.e. physical)
production methods being replaced by new production methods (i.e.
combination between physical and non-physical platforms).
In practical terms, the dissertation contributes additional arguments
to build the development orientation of Vietnam’s textile and apparel
enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0. This is a reliable reference
document for researchers and policy makers who are interested in the
development of textile and garment enterprises.
7. Structure of the thesis
In addition to the Introduction, Conclusion, Appendix and References, the
thesis is structured in four chapters as follows:
Chapter 1. Review of literature
Chapter 2. Theoretical rationale and international practices for
textile and garment enterprises development

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Chapter 3. Current development situation of Vietnamese textile and
garment enterprises in 2007-2018

Chapter 4. Solutions for the development of textile and garment
enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0

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CHAPTER 1
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
1.1. Studies on textile and garment enterprises in the world
Business development issues are always concerned by governments
because of its role in creating material wealth and meeting the needs of
material and refined goods of the people. Enterprise development is
approached from various perspectives, such as micro level (firm level),
industry level, national level or global level (production network or
production chain/value chain).
At firm-level, on the basis of resource-based theory of the firm and
industrial organization theory, research so far have focused on the role of
resources for the development of businesses and the formation of economic
sectors. Accordingly, the existence and development of enterprises depend
on the resource groups: (a) physical resources (such as machinery,
factories, land); (b) human capital; and (c) institutional capital. Facing the
challenges of sustaining and increasing “super profit” to survive and thrive,
businesses must address the issue of mobilizing and effectively using three
aforementioned groups of resources.
At sector level, in addition to internal factors, the development of
enterprises also depends on external resources, which are formed on the
basis of increasing the number of enterprises concentrated in a geographical
range (industrial clusters, industrial zones, regions) contributes to reducing
the cost of transporting goods of each business as well as reducing the labor
market access costs. This is the basis for businesses to maintain a

competitive advantage.
At global level, studies discuss the development of enterprises in
the organization of global production networks and production chains. This
is a way for businesses to benefit more from specialization and production
cooperation.
1.2. Vietnamese studies on textile and garment enterprises
Studies are based on the approaches of theories of business,
industrial organization and value chains. From that, the factors affecting the
development of textile enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0 are
identified.

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Firstly, internal factors affecting business results of enterprises
include capital, firm size, labor and technology.
Second, the external factors influencing enterprise include
infrastructure, industrial clusters, industrial zones/parks, government
policies.
Studies also show that technological breakthroughs of Industry 4.0
are expected to change the whole textile and garment industry, as well as
identifies opportunities and challenges facing garment businesses in this
new context.
1.3. Research gap
The development issues of enterprises in general and of textile and
garment enterprises in particular in the world have been approached and
solved based on the theories of development economics and theories of
business, industrial, organization or value chains.
However, each study has its own objectives, approaches and
scopes, so business development issues could not all be addressed.

Especially, the change of production methods and business models under
the influence of Industry 4.0 has been creating new development issues for
textile and garment enterprises. Thus, it is necessary to continue studying
and identifying solutions for serving the development of the textile and
apparel business.

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CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL RATIONALE FOR
DEVELOPMENT OF TEXTILE AND GARMENT ENTERPRISES
2.1. Fundamental concepts
2.1.1 Textile and garment enterprises and their development
Textile and apparel enterprises are those who engaged in the
process of creating intermediate and/or final products to meet the needs of
clothing for human.
Development of textile and apparel enterprises is the promotion of
the participation of domestic private enterprises in the textile and garment
industry to increase both the number of enterprises and the quality of
enterprises in order to improve the competitiveness of the whole textile and
garment industry in the context of Industry 4.0 and international
integration. The ultimate goal of developing textile and garment enterprises
in the context of Industry 4.0 and integration is to increase the proportion of
value-added value created by domestic textile enterprises and to establish
textile and garment value chains which are organized and developed by
Vietnamese enterprises.
2.1.2. Characteristics of textile and garment enterprises
According to the approach of the manufacturing industry of an
economy, textile and garment enterprises have the following

characteristics:


First, textile and garment enterprises need economies of scale
at the firm level but they in fact could operate in any
production scale.



Secondly, textile and garment enterprises are geographically
concentrated.



Third, textile and garment enterprises tend to attract young
workers and often women.

According to the value chain approach, textile and garment
enterprises have the following characteristics:
A “buyer” firm dominates and decides the allocation of profits in
the value chain.

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Enterprises directly involved in physical production processes often
produce smaller value-added products than those by enterprises engaged in
non-physical production stages.
Participation in the textile and garment value chain depends on the
development strategy of the “buyer” firm.

2.1.3. Criteria and indicators to evaluate the development of textile
enterprises.
Firstly, criteria for assessment in terms of quantity: number of
enterprises
Secondly, criteria for evaluation of the upgrading of textile and
garment enterprises in the global value chain: indicators of relative market
share, relative export proportion, export value of the general product unit,
and aggregate unit value.
Thirdly, criteria for evaluating in terms of quality: Labor efficiency
ratio (LER), Return on equity (ROE); Return on assets (ROA)
Fourthly, indicators reflect the development structure: Enterprise
structure by ownership; enterprise structure by scale; enterprise structure by
region; structure by number of years of experience.
2.2 Industry 4.0 and determinant factors to enterprise development in
the context of Industry 4.0
2.2.1. Industry 4.0 and its impact on the textile and garment industry
According to Klaus Schwab, Chairman of the World Economic
Forum, Industry 4.0 is a term that encompasses a range of modern
automation technologies, data exchange and manufacturing. Industry 4.0 is
defined as a term for the technologies and concepts of an organization in
the value chain associated with physical systems in cyberspace, the Internet
of Things (IoT) and Internet of services (IoS).
In essence, Industry 4.0 is based on digital technology and
integration of all intelligent technologies to optimize production processes
and methods. Platform technologies such as big data, cloud computing,
internet of things, 3D printing technology, biotechnology, new materials
technology, robots, etc. are and will change the world’s production. There
are two trends that change digital technology: (1) reduction of costs that
spur widespread diffusion of other technologies; (2) combination of various

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types of digital technology and convergence of digital and other
technologies. For example, combining the new sensor technology with big
data analytics, cloud computing and and the IoT is promoting automation
and smart manufacturing systems.
Industry 4.0 has the following fundamental characteristics:
First, the nature of Industry 4.0 is a combination between the real
and virtual worlds on the digital platform, forming the virtual production
system (Cyber-Physical Production System – CPSS) that changes the
principle of production.
Secondly, Industry 4.0 has brought about historical changes in
terms of scale, speed and influence compared to previous industrial
revolutions.
Third, Industry 4.0 emphasizes integration and connection between
technologies, but does not exclude the specific application of individual
technologies.
2.2.2. Determinant factors to the development of textile and garment
enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0
The development of textile and garment enterprises is influenced
by internal and external factors:
Internal factors include human resources, (financial and other
material) capital, and technological capital.
External factors include: (i) the development of production
networks and industry clusters; (ii) the quality of infrastructure; and (iii) the
government policies.
2.3. Internaltional practices of textile and garment enterprise
development and lessons for Vietnam
Based on the analysis of two examples of China and India, the

thesis draws some lessons for developing textile and garment enterprises in
Vietnam as follows:


Firstly, it is necessary to support these enterprises through
government policies.



Second, synchronous development of infrastructure

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

Third, investment in R&D



Fourth, improving the quality of human resources for textile
and garment industry

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CHAPTER 3
DEVELOPMENT SITUATION OF VIETNAMESE TEXTILE AND
GARMENT ENTERPRISES IN 2007-2018
3.1 Development situation of Vietnamese textile and garment

enterprises in 2007-2018
3.1.1 Changes in the number of enterprises
Only two years after Vietnam officially became a member of the
WTO, the number of Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises increased
rapidly, from 2,994 (2007) to 4,621 (2009). Five years later, the number of
Vietnamese private textile and apparel enterprises reached about 5,943
(2011). In 2017, the number of Vietnamese textile enterprises surged to
about 10,604, which marked a development in the number of Vietnamese
textile enterprises after a decade of international integration.
3.1.2. Structural transformation of Vietnamese textile and garment
enterprises
Structural transformation by ownership
In more than a decade of development (2007-2017), the number of
Vietnamese private textile and apparel enterprises has increased rapidly.
The structure of Vietnam’s textile and apparel enterprises, by ownership,
has shifted towards increasing the proportion of private sector enterprises.
The proportion of textile enterprises with 100% foreign owned capital
decreased relatively. The share of state-owned textile and garment
enterprises has decreased insignificantly because the proportion of stateowned enterprises (SOEs) has decreased to a very low level due to the
SOEs reform by the government.
Structural transformation by size
Enterprise structure by size, whether by the size of labor or by
capital, reflects the underdeveloped situation of Vietnamese textile
enterprises. Over the past decade, Vietnamese textile and apparel
enterprises have not been large in scale, while the textile and garment
industry is characterized by the economies of scale. In other words, the
Vietnamese economy could hardly benefit from the textile and apparel
sector if Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises continue their smallscale production.

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Structural transformation by region
The development of textile and garment enterprises by region has
changed in the last decade. In general, the Red River Delta region (Region
I) and the Southeast region (Region V), compared to other regions in the
country, are the two regions attracting the most textile enterprises. Besides,
the Southwest region is also the area with the concentration of textile and
garment enterprises, but with a lower rate than those two regions.
Structural transformation by years of experience
Most of Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises are newly
established with few years of experience. The percentage of enterprises
with less than 10 years of experience accounts for nearly 60% of the total
number of Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises. The proportion of
enterprises with over 10 years of experience and over thirty years of
experience accounts make ups over 35% of the total number of enterprises
in the industry.
3.1.3. Quality of Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises in 2007-2018
In the 2007-2018 period, the business results reflect increasing
difficulties facing Vietnamese private textile and apparel enterprises. The
number of the loss-claiming businesses tends to increase both in absolute
and relative numbers. This indicates (1) high competitive level in the textile
and garment industry, especially the garment industry and (2) weak
competitiveness of Vietnamese private textile and garment enterprises.
Enterprises has low labor efficiency (the ratio of average revenue
per employee over average income per employee). In 2017, most
businesses had a labor efficiency ratio of less than 10%, which means that
for every VND spent on labor, it earned less than 1.1 VND of revenue.

3.1.4. Development situation of textile and garment enterprises in the

global value chains
Vietnamese textile and apparel enterprises have upgraded channels
in 2007-2018. Domestic enterprises have become more involved in the
textile and garment chains of international “buyers” and expanded their
export markets to many countries in the region and in the world.

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The result of upgrading Vietnam’s global textile and apparel value
chain is essentially an upgrade to new value chains when higher valueadded products are replacing lower value-added products. Although still
present in the same production stage, the transition from low to higher
value-added production has also enabled Vietnamese enterprises to enjoy
more profits.
3.2. State of inflencing factors to the development of Vietnamese textile
and garment enterprises
3.2.1. Internal factors
3.2.1.1. Human resources
Vietnam textile and garment sector, especially the garment
industry, employs a large number of labors. By the end of 2017, the textile
and garment industry had 1.84 million of direct industrial labor out of about
2.5 million people working in the industry. However, statistics show the
quality of the textile and garment labor force is still low. Unskilled workers
make up a high proportion (19%) and non-formally trained workers make
up 75%.
3.2.1.2. Capital
The financial indicators ROE, ROA, and ROS show that
Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises mainly exploit equity capital
and use ineffective financial leverage. In other words, the employment of
loans from commercial banks or financial guarantee funds is very limited.

3.2.1.3. Technological factors
While Industry 4.0 is strongly taking place, the technologies
applied in textile and garment industry are not really innovative. The year
2017 marked change in the technology status of textile and garment
enterprises when the proportion of enterprises using outdated technologies
by two to three generations has decreased significantly. The majority of
them are now using one-decade older technologies. A large proportion of
businesses have been using new technologies dated from 2010 to present.
This fact reflects the efforts of Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises
in narrowing the technological gap with their counterparts in the world.

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Regarding the origin of textile and garment technology, statistics
show Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises mainly import technology
produced by Northeast Asian countries.
About the level of interest, Vietnamses textile and garment
enterprises are less interested in investing in technology innovation and
applying technological equipment or information technology (IT). Most of
them have applied IT, with 58% for administraion, 31% for production
management and 7% for the whole production process.
3.2.2. External factors
3.2.2.1. The development of production networks and industry clusters
Among conventional industrial clusters in Vietnam, a number of
them have been operated following the model of satellite sectors including
the textile industry due to the market requirements. In order to serve
production actitivies, while 20%-30% of raw materials are made
domestically, up to 70%-80% are imported.
3.2.2.2. Infrastructure

For transport connection, Vietnam has been developing the northsouth road systems and highways in the Red River Delta and the Southeast
regions.
Regarding telecommunications, Vietnam has built a modern
infrastructural system on par with many countries in the world.
About waste and wastewater treatment, although its is required by
laws that textile and dyeing companies must have a waste treatment system
that meets the environmental and wastewater standards, very few
companies satisfy the requirements.
3.2.2.3. Vietnam’s policies for the development of textile and garment
industry
Current related policies are categorized in groups as follows:


Development strategy and planning for the industry;



Training of textile and garment human resources;



Credit policies for technological innovation;



Development of auxiliary industries in textiles and garment

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

Strengthening firm capacity for Industry 4.0

Many issues, in terms of both the regulation contents and
enforcement mechanisms, need to be addressed regarding the textile and
garment policies as well as general policies related to strengthening the
capacity of enterprises for Industry 4.0. It would help restore the confidence
of enterprises and investors for long-term investment, especially investment
in research and application of science and technology and in Industry 4.0
digital technology.
3.3. Development issues of Vietnamese textile and garment enterprises
First, increase in the number but not in the size of enterprises;
Two, restricted development of textile and garment enterprises due
to the imbalanced structure of the industry;
Third, heavy dependence on imported materials;
Fourth, limited capital and low accessibility to capital investment
for technological innovation;
Five, low quality of labor and high volatility of labor markets.
Six, low willingness of garment and textile enterprises to apply the
achievements of Industry 4.0;
Seven, businesses joined the global value chain but at stages of low
value-added;
Eight, lack of R&D centers in the production area with high
concentration of businesses.
3.4. Strengths and weaknesses of Vietnamese textile and garment
enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0
Strengths (S)
S1: Rapid increase in number of domestic private textile and
apparel enterprises.

S2: Concentration of enterprises by region.
S3: Presence of some Vietnamese private textile and apparel
enterprises in higher value-added stages of the global textile
and apparel chain.

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S4. Some strong domestic brands by a number of large private
enterprises (originated from SOEs).
Weaknesses (W)
W1: Most businesses operating in micro and small scales against a
small number of medium-sized ones.
W2: High rate of loss-making businesses.
W3: Low level of technology in comparison with the region and
the world levels; slow technological improvement.
W4: High dependence on imported materials.
W5: Lack of R&D centers for textile and garment industry.
W6: Absence of textile and garment production chains and value
chains.
W7: Low readiness for application of technological achievements
of Industry 4.0.
W8: Low-skilled labor.

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CHAPTER 4
SOLUTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF TEXTILE AND
GARMENT ENTERPRISES IN THE CONTEXT OF INDUSTRY 4.0

4.1. New development context
4.1.1. Inevitable trend of international economic integration
4.1.2. Development trends of the world’s fashion industry under the
Industry 4.0 influence
Firstly, the rise of machine learning.
Second, optimization of supply chains.
Third, presence of robots in manufacturing sectors.
Fourth, fast data analysis for quick adaptation.
Thursday, 3D design, 3D printing and volume customization.
Friday, sensor-based fashion and digital clothing.
4.1.3. Expansion of Vietnam’s middle class
4.2. Opportunities and challenges for textile and garment enterprises
in the context of Industry 4.0 and integration
4.2.1. Opportunities
Firstly, changes in production and trading methods of textile and
garment enterprises. Second, changes in traditional business
models. Thirdly, opportunities brought about by bilateral and
multilateral agreements.Fourthly, to develop the domestic markets.
4.2.2. Challenge
Firstly, growing competition.
Second, challenges of catching up with the rapid technological
changes.
Third, challenges of participating in new generation global value
chains.

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Fourth, risks of losing jobs to traditional textile and garment
workers.

Fifthly, challenges brought about by bilateral and multilateral
agreements.
4.3. Viewpoints and orientations for the development of textile and
garment enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0
4.3.1. Viewpoints
The happening of Industry 4.0 is inevitable and will affect many
industries and fields. An active participation is both a requirement and a
challenge facing textile and garment enterprises. They should turn this
challenge into opportunity for the innovation of production towards
modernization and strengthening their capacity and competitiveness.
4.3.2. Orientations
First, to select strategic directions towards an active participation in
Industry 4.0.
Second, to promote in short term garment exports in order to take
advantage of market opportunities.
Third, to be more proactive in raw materials for production inputs.
Fourth, to constantly update technologies when new investment for
technology available.
Fifth, to proactively strengthen cooperation with training
institutions for high quality labor to meet the requirements of integration
and improve the ability to access and operate new technological
achievements of Industry 4.0.
4.4 Major solutions for the development of textile and garment
enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0
First, more complete and uniform policies facilitating the access
to exploitation of Industry 4.0 achievements
It is necessary to continue the perfection of regulations on
improving Vietnam’s investment and business environment towards
Industry 4.0 (with fairness, equality and transparency) and regulations
related to the promotion of scientific and technological applications. This

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would promote innovation and technology application, including digital
technologies, in enterprises). Besides, it is also important to improve
policies on high-quality labor development and regulations related to
information and connection security. Policies on taxes, customs, salaries,
social and health insurances need to be made more specific and transparent.
The stability of the policy systems should also be ensured in order to creat a
secured legal environment for enterprises doing business.
Second, Development of infrastructure to enable enterprises to
access and applicationachievements of industry 4.0. In particular, especial
emphasis on information technology and telecommunications
infrastructure; development of e-commerce,
Third, Training of high-quality human resources
- Changing the training model/method and curriculum in accordance
with the requirements of Industry 4.0
- Investing in training equipment in the direction of keeping updated
with Industry 4.0 such as automation equipment, robots industrial.
- Implement retraining and complementary training for the lowskilled workforce, prioritizing the knowledge and skills related to
information technology application, automation, management and
analytical skills. information
- Training laborers with fashion vision, foreign languages,
information technology to updatetrends the world fashion
- Building public laboratories, creating opportunities for technical
personnel of textile enterprises may participate in research and
development experiments to improve technology for businesses
- It is necessary to have close cooperation between universities,
textile associations, businesses to ensure appropriate training programs. in

line with the practical operation requirements of the enterprise; Regularly
organize short updates and training sessions for employees to change their
minds and operate modern equipment with new software installed.
In addition, building a model of medium-sized garment enterprises
in training establishments ofworkers textileis also a solution that needs to
be focused.

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Fourth Supporting textile and technology enterprises to innovate
Technology.
- Adopt preferential tax policies ralated to the import of high –tech
machinery for production.
- Take synchronous solutions to remove difficulties for enterprises
to access bank capital effectively
- Strengthening the linkage between scientists and businesses to
commercialize research.
Fifth Building and upgrading a cluster of
strengthening linkages and cooperation in the textile cluster

industries,

When building textile zones and clusters, attention needs to be
paid:
+ Indentify suitable areas to develop the textile dyeing industry.
+ Preparing and inplementing public or PPP projects to build
industrial zones with high standard wastewater treatment system for textile
dyeing industry.
Sixth, enhancing the readiness to apply 4.0 technologies of

enterprises.
In addition to the support from the government, enterprises should
improve proactively access capacity to apply 4.0 technologies in
mangement and production activities as well as having a strategy to
restructure workers and standardization of the whole production chain;
focus on intergrating digital technology; equip technical knowledge for
workers and organizations to master new technologies.

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CONCLUSION
The thesis titled “Vietnamese textile and garment enterprise in the
context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution” has achieved its objectives
and answered the research questions, contributing to solving textile
enterprise development issues in the new context of Industry 4.0.
Firstly, the thesis has reviewed the development theories of
enterprises in general and of textile and garment enterprises in particular.
On that theoretical basis together with the approaches from resource-based
perspective and the theories of industrial organization and value chain, the
author has analyzed and evaluated the development of textile and garment
enterprises following the indicators of quantity and quality development,
structural transformation, and upgrading performance of enterprises in the
global textile and apparel chains. Besides, the thesis also examined the
conception of Industry 4.0 along with factors affecting the development of
textile and enterprises enterprises in the context of Industry 4.0.
International practices of developing textile and garment
enterprises in China and India are also good examples for Vietnam to learn
from.
Secondly, the development state of textile and garment enterprises

in the 2007-2018 period has been assessed based on the set of
aforementioned criteria. Accordingly, the development issues of textile and
garment enterprises have been identified. (1) Despite an increase in the
number, the production scale of textile and garment enterprises did not
change. (2) The development of textile and garment enterprises is limited
due to the imbalance in their structure. (3) These enterprises also depend
heavily on imported materials. (4) Their capital scale and access to capital
sources for technology innovation remain low. (5) Low labor quality is also
observed in the textile and garment industry. (6) The enterprises are either
not ready for application of Industry 4.0 achievements yet. (7) Those who
are able to participate in the global chains are still operating in low valueadded stages. (8) There is the absence of R&D centers despite the high
concentration of enterprises. In addition, the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and challenges for textileand garment enterprises in the
context of Industry 4.0 and integration have been analyzed also to serve as
a basis for proposing solutions.

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