Vietnam will achieve garment and textile export turnovers of 40 billion U.S. dollars this year, up 10.8 percent from last year, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association said on Friday.

To this end, Vietnam is focusing on producing items with high competitiveness in the world market, and improving its garment and textile supply chain, the association said, noting that increasing local and foreign investments are pouring into the Vietnamese weaving, dyeing, material and accessory segments.

Vietnam, the world's third biggest garment and textile exporter, earned over 36 billion U.S. dollars from exporting garments and textiles, including T- shirts, jackets and dresses in 2018, up more than 16 percent from 2017, said the association. Its main export markets included the ASEAN, Japan, South Korea, the European Union and the United States.

However, Vietnam had to spend over 3 billion U.S. dollars importing cotton, 2.4 billion U.S. dollars on yarn, 12.9 billion U.S. dollars on fabric, and more than 5.7 billion U.S. dollars importing materials and accessories for production of garments, textiles and footwear, according to the General Statistics Office.