Vietnam’s footwear export decreases due to crisis

Vietnam’s footwear export earnings dropped by 15.8 percent year-on-year to 4 billion USD in 2009 despite the sector’s efforts to overcome difficulties caused by the global economic crisis.

According to the General Statistics Office, the country’s footwear exports to all main markets decreased sharply. The sharpest decrease was reported in the European Union (EU) by more than 23 percent, followed by a decrease in Japan by 10.5 percent and the US by 2 percent.

The drop was inevitable given the impacts of the global economic crisis making Vietnam’s export markets shrink, explained trade experts. In addition, the EU’s decision to continue imposing anti-dumping taxes on Vietnamese leather-capped shoes and not allow Vietnam’s footwear enterprises to utilise Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) caused considerable difficulties for export.

The export drop has forced numerous footwear enterprises, including foreign-invested companies namely the Pou Yuen and Pou Chen companies of Taiwan and the Shang Hung Company of the Republic of Korea , to cut down their production by between 10-30 percent in comparison with 2008.

For future export strategy until 2015, the sector plans to target 6.2 billion USD from exports by 2010 and 11.4 billion USD by 2015 with material localisation rates of 50 percent and 70 percent respectively.

To minimise difficulties in export and avoid trade barriers in the coming years, footwear enterprises should focus on the production of special shoes like high-end sports and fashionable shoes, recommended Nguyen Thi Tong, General Secretary of the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association

Tags: Vietnam footwear export, Vietnam Footwear Industry

Posted by VBN on Jan 5 2010. Filed under Garment Textile, Import-Export. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry