Footwear, handbag sector targets export revenue of 24 billion USD
The footwear and handbag industry aims to reach export revenue of 24 billion USD in 2020, after hitting 22 billion USD last year, the industry association said.
Shoes produced at Sao Viet Company in Binh Duong province's Di An Industrial Zone (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - The footwear and handbag industry aims to reach exportrevenue of 24 billion USD in 2020, after hitting 22 billion USD last year, theindustry association said.
According to the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (Lefaso),footwear export revenue was expected to reach 20 billion USD while handbagsachieved 4 billion USD this year.
Nguyen Duc Thuan, Lefaso’s president, said foreign-invested producers remainedthe major driver for footwear and handbags, citing statistics thatforeign-invested firms accounted for 75.8 percent of the sector’s exportrevenue in 2019.
The industry, however, saw a slight expansion of domestic producers in recentyears, accounting for 24.2 percent of the export revenue in 2019, from 19.7 percentin 2017 and 21.6 percent in 2018.
Thuan said that the US-China trade war would continue posing risks to Vietnam’sfootwear and handbag exports.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Cao Quoc Hung said that the Governmentwould continue to provide support for footwear and handbag firms in expandingmarkets and improving production capacity.
The ministry was developing a strategy to turn leather and footwear into aspearhead industry for export.
Hung also urged footwear and leather firms to take advantage of opportunitiesfrom free trade agreements while preparing for challenges from uncertain globaland regional trade developments.
He also said firms should be proactive in renovating technologies and enhancingtheir production capacity as well as focusing on market research anddevelopment.
The industry reached an export revenue of 22 billion USD in 2019, representinga rise of 12.2 percent over the previous year. Up to 18.3 billion USD of theexport revenue came from footwear exports and 3.7 billion USD from handbags.
The US was the largest market for Vietnam’s footwear and handbag products, witha revenue of 7.41 billion USD (up 13 percent) in January-November, followed bythe EU with 5.418 billion USD revenue (up 7.2 percent) and China at 1.776billion USD (up 19.3 percent)./.
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Shoes produced at Sao Viet Company in Binh Duong province's Di An Industrial Zone (Photo: VNA) 
