Footwear exports hit new high

Footwear exports last month hit US$600 million, pushing total earnings in the first seven months this year to $3.62 billion, an increase of 30.7 per cent over last year, according to the General Statistics Office.

General Secretary of the Viet Nam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso) Nguyen Thi Tong said that with current market prospects, the footwear industry would likely meet its annual export target of $6 billion.

Tong added that the industry had been focussing on the export of high quality products, with low-end footwear sales declining by roughly 46 per cent.

Despite being the world’s third-largest producer of leather and footwear, Viet Nam has only recently started pushing its own brands, according to Lefaso Deputy Chairman Diep Thanh Kiet, who said that foreign customers were still more used to Italian and Chinese products compared with those from Viet Nam.

The export of suitcases, bags, hats, wallets and umbrellas in the first seven months of this year reached nearly $730 million, an increase of 35.6 per cent over last year, according to Lefaso.

Lefaso said that such a high increase had helped the export of the leather products become one of the country’s ten most successful ventures.

Deputy Chairman of Lefaso Nguyen Duc Thuan attributed the surge to high-profile companies shifting their production operations from China to Viet Nam, whose businesses were expanding their facilities to meet the rising demand.

Viet Nam exports its suitcases, bags, hats, wallets and umbrellas mainly to the US, Japan, France, Germany and Belgium. – VNS

Tags: Vietnam Footwear, Vietnam Footwear Exports