The domestic leather and footwear industry is seeing positive signs in the market.
Severalleading footwear manufacturers such as Nike, Adidas and Puma have giventheir orders to Vietnamese firms, instead of the manufacturers in Chinaand Bangladesh.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do ThangHai was quoted as saying by the online newspaper VnMedia.vn that most ofthe large local businesses in the sector have received orders fromforeign countries for the first quarter of next year.
Hai saidthe well-known brands wanted to expand their operations in Vietnam tomeet the increasing demand for their products and to reduce risks.
Thesector should promote production and trade, and improve their products'competitiveness to satisfy the manufacturers' requirements, he said.
Vietnamis among the top ten global footwear exporters and is the secondlargest footwear exporter to the demanding market in the US.
Statisticsfrom the ministry showed that in July, the footwear sector was stableas its output of leather shoes was estimated at 21.9 million pairs,representing a 10.4 percent increase in comparison with July 2013.
Inthe first seven months of this year, the sector's output was 150.4million pairs, a 19.5 percent increase over the same period last year.Its export turnover posted a 22 percent year-on-year increase to touch5.75 billion USD. The item has been one of the country's staple exports.
Estimates from the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association(Lefaso) also revealed that the shift of production lines to theindustry in the seven-month period was a 25 percent year-on-yearincrease.-VNA