Vietnam’s footwear industry sees many favourable conditions to boost
its exports as most local businesses have received steady orders for the
second and third quarters of 2013.
According to the Vietnam
Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso), many Vietnamese producers are
now turning to new markets, including the US and Japan, in
addition to their traditional consumers in the EU.
Statistics
from the Vietnam General Department of Customs show that the footwear
export turnover hit 1.73 billion USD by the end of March, or a
year-on-year increase of 16.1 percent, making it one of the country’s
key 10 export items with total earnings in the first quarter of 2013
surpassing 1 billion USD.
The upcoming signing of the
Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) Agreement is expected to bring more advantages to the industry.
The TPP alone will help Vietnam penetrate into a larger
market of 2.7 billion consumers that makes up half the global GDP.
In addition, tariffs levied on imports to the US, one of Vietnam’s key markets, will be slashed to zero percent from the current 14.3
percent on average.
Footwear and leather exports to TPP member
states are expected to account for more than 47 percent of the sector’s
total value, with the US having the share of 31 percent.
The Japanese market is also forecast to contribute significantly to the
sector’s 20 percent growth in orders this year, especially since the
Tokyo Business Association sent 10 footwear businesses to Vietnam to
conduct market research at the end of last year.
Over half of these businesses have subsequently decided to shift their orders from other markets to Vietnam.
The industry targets 9.7 billion USD in revenues this year, an increase of 10 percent over 2012.-VNA