Vietnam’s footwear exports to France saw promising, if slight, growth despite an 8.8 percent decrease in the country’s six-month export turnover.

According to the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso), in the first six months of the year, Vietnam’s footwear exports to France reached nearly 274 million USD, representing a 1.6 percent increase compared to the same period last year. At present, footwear is one of the country’s five export staples to the French market and leads other industries in export turnover.

Footwear is among the few commodities Vietnam exports to France to take advantage of foreign exchange rates, as it pays for the import of raw materials in USD, but brings home profits from sales in Euros, Lefaso said, adding that this has contributed to the staple’s export growth.

The association also said that Vietnam sees abundant opportunities for increasing trade in both directions in the coming time, especially after a recent visit by a delegation of French leather businesses to Ho Chi Minh City to study market and cooperative opportunities with Vietnamese partners.

The Vietnamese footwear sector imports 80 percent of its raw materials, making it a prime potential market for the French leather sector. The visit offered the French businesses a chance to showcase raw materials and high-quality semi-finished products before Vietnamese manufacturers.

Martine Dufournet, a representative of the French business delegation, gave the nod to Vietnam’s leather and footwear products, saying that they are eligible for export to Europe and America .

Two-way trade between Vietnam and France has reached an annual growth rate of 25 percent since they set up diplomatic ties 20 years ago and Vietnam has maintained a trade surplus with this market since 1997.

In the first six months of the year, two-way trade exceeded 1.1 billion USD, with Vietnamese goods accounting for 635 million USD of that-up 9 percent over the same period last year./.