The southern province of Dong Nai has seen strong growth in footwear production and export over the past two years, according to the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association. Local major footwear producers have strongly expanded their operation in a bid to fully tap potential offered by international integration, said the provincial Department of Planning and Investment. Big names include Taekwang Vina and Changshin Vietnam of the Republic of Korea, and Pouchen Vietnam and Pousung Vietnam – subsidiaries of Taiwan’s Pouchen Group. Together, they have contributed more than 80 percent of the sector’s total export value. The Pouchen Group is developing additional production lines in Pousung Vietnam in the Bau Xeo Industrial Zone in Trang Bom district, creating jobs for 5,000 labourers. In a similar move, Taekwang Vina Joint Stock Company (JSC), operating in Dong Nai since 1994, also plans to recruit additional 3,000 workers to serve its production capacity increase by the year’s end. Dinh Sy Phuc from the company said with some 28,000 employees, the company is currently producing roughly 90,000 pairs of shoes per day. So far this year, it has exported 12 million pairs of shoes, earning 300 million USD, up nearly 27 percent from the same period last year. Meanwhile, the other RoK footwear producer Changshin Vietnam targets to produce 650,000 pairs of shoes per week by June 2016 and 1 million by 2018. In the first seven months of this year, the local footwear sector has earned 1.5 billion USD from export, up 18 percent year-on-year, according to the provincial Statistics Department. Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade Le Van Danh said the province’s export value is expected to hit 14.3-14.6 billion USD this year, up 10-12 percent from last year. Of the export value, that of the footwear sector is estimated at 2.5 billion USD, securing its leading role among local foreign currency earners, Danh said.-VNA