TPP brings many opportunities for Vietnam's footwear industry

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa said the conclusion of negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement as well as other agreements will bring great opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises, including those in the textile, garment and footwear industries.

Production line of women's fashion shoes for export at the factory. (Photo: Vu Sinh/VNA)

The above comment was made by Ms. Thoa at the conference to evaluate the production and import-export situation of the footwear industry and development orientation in 2016 of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (Lefaso), held on January 19, in Hanoi.

"To take advantage of these agreements, the leather and footwear industry needs to speed up the preparation of domestic raw materials to enjoy tax rates in the US and EU markets and some other markets," Deputy Minister Ho Thi Kim Thoa emphasized.

According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Thuan, Chairman of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association, in 2015, the Vietnamese leather, footwear and handbag industry faced many new opportunities, with FTAs ​​as well as TPP, but also put considerable pressure on export enterprises.

However, with optimism about a thriving economy and growing trade activities, businesses will have good revenue growth in 2016. Vietnamese and foreign businesses need to prepare carefully, especially Vietnamese businesses need to apply science and technology to increase productivity.

In 2015, the entire leather and footwear industry's export value reached nearly 15 billion USD, an increase of nearly 16% compared to 2014; of which, footwear reached 12 billion USD, an increase of over 16%, and handbags were estimated at 2.88 billion USD, an increase of nearly 14% compared to the previous year.

In 2016, with the above development momentum and opportunities from FTAs, especially with the newly established ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the industry's export value will increase by 15-20% compared to 2015.

Mr. Thuan analyzed that in 2015, the industry's traditional export markets all achieved good growth rates, typically the US market increased by more than 20%, the EU market increased by more than 10%, and in particular, the Chinese market increased dramatically by nearly 50% compared to 2014.

In addition, domestic footwear enterprises have innovated in production, improved productivity and product quality, and actively sought to expand markets. Many foreign investors from China, Japan, etc. have come to Vietnam to build factories to take advantage of cheap labor as well as incentives brought by FTAs.

Talking about the development direction of the enterprise, the representative of Phong Chau Leather and Footwear Company said that in 2015, the Company actively expanded its export market to countries in Africa, ASEAN... Therefore, the export value of footwear in 2015 of the enterprise increased by 5-7% compared to 2014.

In 2016, the company will continue to promote exports to the above markets, while seeking more partners and investing in expanding production scale./.

According to Vietnam+