Vietnam footwear exports recorded $27 bln despite challenges

Despite facing numerous challenges, the Vietnam Leather, Footwear, and Handbag Association has reported that the industry's export value was eétimated at $27.04 billion in 2024, marking an 11.45% increase from 2023.

Chairman of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear, and Handbag Association Nguyen Duc Thuan attributed these achievements to the effective utilization of advantages from free trade agreements, including the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), among others.

These successes come despite significant challenges, such as price pressures, high quality requirements, sustainability criteria, increased input costs, and labor shortages. Many businesses have secured large export contracts for 2024, expanding beyond traditional markets into new regions such as the Middle East, South America, and Africa.

The United States remains the primary export market for Vietnam's footwear industry, accounting for 36.5% of Vietnam's total value of footwear exports worldwide in the first 11 months of 2024.

Following the US market are the EU, China, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Canada,  Australia, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia.

The industry is setting its sights on a 10% growth in exports for 2025, aiming for a turnover of approximately $29 billion.

To achieve this ambitious goal, the industry will initially focus on exporting to existing and less demanding markets such as Africa and Asia, and gradually implement higher standards, such as green production and green products, to meet the requirements of more demanding markets like Japan, Europe, and the United States.