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Leather, footwear exports below target
The leather and footwear industry saw a reduction in exports during the first eight months of this year, prompting difficulty in achieving its 2009 export target.
"The country’s total export value for leather and footwear fell to US$2.8 billion for the first eight months, $327 million lower than the same period last year," said Nguyen Thi Tong, chairwoman of the Viet Nam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso).
The decline was due to impacts from the world economic crisis and the halt in joining the generalised tariff of preferences (GSP) in the European Union (EU) beginning on January 1, 2009 for leather and footwear exports.
The EU represented 60 per cent of Viet Nam’s total leather and footwear export market," she said.
"Lefaso expected the industry would make $4.59 billion in total export value this year, 10 per cent lower than the target registered with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT)," said Tong.
"To reach the expected export value, the industry must make $1.8 billion by the end of this year, or $450 million each month," she said, adding it would not be easy to reach that figure because the largest monthly export value during the first eight months was $400 million.
Phan Thi Dieu Ha, deputy head of MOIT’s Export and Import Department, agreed with Lefaso’s expectation and said that with the reality of the current market and the current orders for leather and footwear products, the industry must make significant efforts.
Viet Nam is considered one of the largest footwear exporters in the world but the industry still lacks the ability to design its own models and has small- scale production and limited service infrastructure.
In addition, 70 per cent of the materials and sub-materials required by the industry has to be imported, leading to high production costs.
To improve the situation, the industry has co-operated with the garment and textile industry to organise training courses, trade promotion programmes and programmes to develop the domestic market.
Lefaso also encouraged leather and footwear producers to invest more into equipment and workshops, and to improve capacity and quality.
With world economic recovery, the industry is expected to make $5.3 billion in export value next year.
vietnamnews
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