Vietnam: leather and footwear exports earn $2b in Q1
Vietnam’s leather and footwear industry earned an export revenue of approximately $2 billion in the first quarter of 2012, as part of a $7.3 billion annual target, up 21.7% against 2011.
Nguyen Thi Tong, deputy chairwoman and general secretary of the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso), made the statement at a seminar jointly held by Lefaso and the Vietnam Leather and Shoe Research Institute in Hanoi.
The event was aimed at launching a campaign to encourage Vietnamese creative designers to take part in the 4th International Footwear Design Competition 2012 in the Asia region. The competition will take place in Guangzhou, China, from May 30 to June 1 and will be organised by the Asia Footwear Association and regional industrial associations.
“The initiative targets improving design capacity and production in Asian countries as well as discovering creative and professional designers,” said Ms Nguyen. “The industry has been promoting enterprises and designers, especially the youth, to create unique designs in an effort for shoe makers to implement direct orders rather than sub-contracts.”
Tran Tuyet Mai, a representative of the Vietnam Leather and Shoe Research Institute, said that active participation of Vietnamese designers would make a great contribution to the country’s footwear industry.
