Photo taken of workers at Thöôïng Ñình Footwear Company. Vieät Nam exported $15 billion worth of leather and footwear products in 2015. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoïc Haø

HÀ NỘI (VNS) — Việt Nam’s leather and footwear industry expects to reach a total export value of $17 billion this year, partly due to advantageous business conditions.
Nguyễn Đức Thuấn, Việt Nam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso) Chairman, said the chances of expanding export markets are good this year due to advantages from free trade agreements (FTAs) with the European Union (EU), South Korea and especially the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
The zero tax rate under the Việt Nam-EU FTA and TPP, effective in 2018, will promote Vieät Nam’s exports in leather, footwear, bags, umbrellas and suitcases in the future, he said.
In addition, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) recently declared partially invalid an anti-dumping regulation on certain leather footwear imports to the EU from China and Việt Nam.
It said that the Council of the EU and EU Commission did not comply with certain procedural rules when the regulation was adopted.
On October 5, 2006, the Council of the EU adopted a regulation imposing an anti-dumping duty on certain leather footwear imported from China and Viet Nam to the EU with a rate of 16.5 per cent for footwear manufactured by companies established in China (with the exception of the company Golden Step, whose anti-dumping duty was set at 9.7 per cent), and at 10 per cent for footwear manufactured by companies established in Vieät Nam.
The change to the anti-dumping tariff for Vietnamese footwear will support local footwear firms in reducing the current difficulties of production and business, he said.
Last year, Việt Nam gained a high growth rate in export value from the leather and footwear industry at $15 billion, an increase of 16 per cent year-on-year, according to the association, including $12 billion from footwear.
Hà Duy Hưng, Chairman of the Đông Hưng Industry Joint Stock Company, said the local leather and footwear industry has in the past developed key export markets in Europe, the United States and Japan, and they are expecting higher exports to those markets in the future as the FTAs generate interest, the Đầu tư online outlet reported.
Now, Vieät Nam is one of four largest footwear producers in volume on the world market, after China, India and Brazil, and is also the third largest footwear exporter in value on the global market, after China and Italy. Domestic footwear products have been shipped to 50 countries and territories. — VNS