Footwear continued ranking third after garment and crude oil with export revenues fetching almost 1.3 billion USD in the first quarter of this year.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that a year-on-year increase of 29.7 percent in export revenues was attributable to rising demands as the world economy continues its recovery trend.

The European Union continued to be the biggest market for Vietnam’s footwear, buying 356 million USD worth of products in the first two months of the year. It was followed by the US and Japan that imported 230 million USD and more than 54 million USD, respectively, worth of Vietnam’s footwear.

Vietnam’s footwear exports to China, the Republic of Korea and other markets also rose.

At present, the nation’s footwear has been exported to 50 nations and territories in the world and ranks fourth among the world’s top ten exporters with major products being sport, leather and canvas shoes and sandals of all kinds.

The Vietnam Leather Footwear Association said Vietnam is likely to achieve export revenues target of 5.5 billion USD this year in the light of favourable conditions as well as the EU’s removal of anti-dumping duty on Vietnam’s leather-capped shoes on April 1./.