79 companies of the garment-textile and leather-footwear industries received outstanding enterprise awards on October 31 for their business achievements and contributions to the society.

The awardee selection process was jointly conducted by the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso) and the Saigon Economic Times.

Addressing the award ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung emphasised the significance of the garment-textile and leather-footwear industries for the national socio-economic development.

The sectors currently employ three million workers, one third of whom are working in their supporting industries, he said.

The awarded enterprises were selected based on their achiements in production and business activities as well as societal contribution, especially against the backdrop of challenges rising from the recent global economic crisis.

Vitas Chairman Le Quoc An said the world economy and Vietnam’s economy have recovered from crisis and garment-textile enterprises have prepared themselves to accelerate investment in order to achieve the target of 10.5 billion USD in turnover from export by 2010 and 16-18 billion USD by 2015./.