HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s leather and footwear industry expects to reach a total export value of US$18 billion this year, up 10 per cent from last year, said the Việt Nam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (Lefaso). Lafesco reported that the sector raked in $16.2 billion from export last year, up 8.8 per cent from 2015. Of which, $13 billion came from footwear and the remaining was from handbags and leather items, marking respective annual increases of 8.2 per cent and 11.1 per cent. According to Lefaso, leather and footwear exports last year faced many difficulties as orders from the EU market plummeted and the sector’s export to ASEAN markets was also unstable. Vietnamese enterprises also confronted obstacles due to the lack of capital and increasing input costs, which significantly affected the footwear sector’s export.

Source: Viet Nam News February 10, 2017 02:53 UTC