Footwear exporters urged to seize new opportunities
Vietnamese leather and footwear exporters must take advantage of a shift in demand from China to Vietnam, said experts from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
Their advice was based on increasing orders for Vietnamese goods from countries such as Japan during recent negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.
They said foreign importers are shifting orders for leather and footwear products from China to Vietnam, urging Vietnamese companies to improve their competitiveness on the global market.
Vietnam is finalizing its participation in the TPP and is negotiating free trade agreements (FTA) with countries in the European Union (EU) to attract further investment in the leather and footwear industry.
Ho Thi Kim Thoa, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, said Vietnam aims to bring modern technology and prominent brands to the domestic industry.
The Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (LEFASO) said importers of prominent leather and footwear products on the world market are planning to shift their orders from China to Vietnam to capitalise on cost and labour advantages.
Dang Van Chien, Director of the Hung Yen Footwear Joint Stock Company, said the trend is merely a “signal” and that foreign importers have just visited Vietnam to conduct market research.
In fact, there remain snags in attracting foreign orders, adding that high taxes, production costs and limited capacity need to be addressed first. Currently, 80 percent of footwear exporters in Vietnam are engaged in partial production of footwear products with limited capacity for end-to-end production, including design work.
Domestic producers still find it difficult to invest adequately in new technologies for lack of management skills, not to mention their failure to predict foreign market trends.
He urged the Government to support training programmes aimed at improving the quality of the labour force and attract more foreign partners.
LEFASO's deputy chairman, Diep Thanh Kiet, said enterprises should review their market strategy, improve their competitive edge and set up areas specialising in the production of raw materials.
In the first seven months this year, Vietnam's footwear export value jumped 15.6 percent from last year to US$4.79 billion.