Garments, footwear on export high   Workers make clothes for export at the Garment Factory No 2. The textile and garm-ent industry saw high growth in production and export in the first five months of this year, earning the country $8.11 billion in exports.— VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet Textile and garment industries, as well as leather and footwear, recorded high growth in production and exports during the first five months of this year. The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported on Monday that in the first five months of this year, the textile and garment industry produced 118.2 million sq.m. of natural fibre (a year-on-year increase of 2.3 per cent), 287.1 million sq.m. of synthetic and artificial fibre (a year-on-year surge of 1.8 per cent), and 1.21 billion units of cloths (a year-on-year surge of 2.3 per cent). During the first five months, the industry gained a year-on-year increase of 8.4 per cent in export value to US$8.11 billion, including $1.65 billion recorded in May. The export orders of textile and garment enterprises remained positive in the second quarter, with 62 per cent of total enterprises producing cloths marking an increase in export orders against the first quarter, the ministry noted. The Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association said from early this year until now, foreign investors had been promoting investments in the textile and garment sector in Viet Nam to exploit the business opportunities that have emerged following free trade agreements such as the TPP, Viet Nam-EU FTA, and Viet Nam-South Korea FTA. According to the FTAs, Viet Nam's textile and garment sector will gain the most from many tariff lines reducing to zero. The ministry pointed out that the leather and footwear industries also achieved a year-on-year increase of 24.8 per cent in output to 130.7 million pairs of footwear and of 19.5 per cent rise in the export value of footwear to $4.6 million. The General Statistics Office reported that some 55.7 per cent of footwear enterprises recorded a surge in export orders for the second quarter. According to the ministry, garment and footwear are two of the sectors that are expected to receive many advantages from the FTA in the future. — VNS