Vietnam's leather and footwear export turnover in 2015 is expected to reach 12 billion USD.

According to the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (Lefaso), with an export turnover of over 10 billion USD in 2014 and an expected 12 billion USD in 2015, the Vietnamese leather and footwear industry is ranked 3rd in the world, just behind China and Italy.

The domestic leather and footwear industry promises many bright spots (Photo: PV)

According to Lefaso statistics, the export of the footwear industry in the period 2009 - 2014 always grew even in the years when the world and domestic economy faced difficulties due to the crisis. The European Union (EU), the US, and Japan have remained the main export markets of the footwear industry in recent years. In particular, although the export turnover to the EU market decreased in 2012, it continued to grow again in 2013-2014.

It is noteworthy that while in the past the EU market accounted for about 50% of the total export turnover of the footwear industry, it is now showing a downward trend, while the export turnover to the US market has seen strong growth. Although the Japanese market is very picky in importing footwear products, it still maintains import growth for Vietnamese footwear products with an import turnover of about 500 million USD by the end of 2014.

However, besides the opportunities, the challenges of the leather and footwear industry in integration are not small. Accordingly, the ability to meet the conditions of free trade agreements, the ability to participate in the global value chain of domestic enterprises is still limited and labor costs are expected to increase in the coming years, which will bring many difficulties to the leather and footwear industry in the integration process.

According to the Communist Party of Vietnam