Vietnam gained roughly 4.1 billion U. S. dollars from exporting garments and textiles, mainly to the United States, the European Union and Japan, in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 17.7 percent, according to a local industry association on Friday.

In the six-month period, Vietnam spent nearly 2.3 billion dollars importing cloth, 408 million dollars importing 212,000 tons of weaving threads and 220 million dollars importing 147,000 tons of cotton, said the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association.

To realize the targeted annual garment production growth of 16- 18 percent and export growth of 20 percent between 2008 and 2010, garment and textile producers in Vietnam are intensifying investment in purchasing advanced equipment and technology, launching more models with finer designs, seeking more material supplies, and improving management, the association said.

Under a national plan on developing the local industry, Vietnam's garment and textile industry will make total production value of 14.8 billion dollars in 2010, some 22.5 billion dollars in 2015, and 31 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. The country targets garment export turnovers of 25 billion dollars in 2020.

Vietnam's garment and textile export turnovers were nearly 7.8 billion dollars in 2007, up 34.5 percent against 2006. It earned 4.5 billion dollars from shipping the products to the United States last year.