Leather and footwear exports could reach $26 billion by 2020

Leather and footwear exports could reach $26 billion by 2020

Producing shoes for export at Viễn Thịnh Shoes Company Limited. — VNS Photo baohaiquan.vn

HCM CITY — Việt Nam is targeting to earn between US$ 二 四 billion to $ 二 六 billion from leather and footwear exports by  二0 二0 under a revised plan for leather and footwear industry development until  二0 二 五 with a vision to  二0 三 五.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade held a seminar in HCM City on April  七 to collect co妹妹ents from experts and enterprises in the industry on the revised plan.

According to the revised plan’s overall objectives, the leather and footwear industry will develop at a high speed to maintain its position as one of the country’s key export industries and create more jobs with improved incomes for workers.

Implementing better corporate social responsibility and raising the number of trained labourers are other objectives of the project.

Under the revised plan, the sector’s annual production value is expected to grow by  一 一. 六 二 per cent in the  二0 一 六- 二0 period,  八. 八 七 per cent in the  二0 二 一- 二 五 period and  六.0 四 per cent in  二0 二 六- 三 五 period.

In addition, it would strive to achieve an annual export growth rate of  一0- 一 五 per cent in the  二0 一 六- 二0 period,  八- 九 per cent in the  二0 二 一- 二 五 period and  四- 五 per cent in the  二0 二 六- 三 五 period, with export revenues expected to reach $ 二 四- 二 六 billion by  二0 二0, $ 三 五- 三 八 billion by  二0 二 五 and $ 五0- 六0 billion by  二0 三 五.

It also targets to raise the local content rate in footwear products to  四 五 per cent by  二0 二0,  四 七 per cent by  二0 二 五 and  五 五 per cent by  二0 三 五.

Assessing the implementation of the master plan for Việt Nam’s leather and footwear industry development until  二0 二0 with a vision to  二0 二 五, which was approved in  二0 一0, Nguyễn Mạnh Khôi, Deputy Director of the Leather and Footwear Research Institute, said after five years of executing the plan, the Vietnamese leather and footwear industry has developed strongly and made positive contributions to the country’s economy.

Some targets set out in the master plan have been implemented quite well, such as basically completing the equitisation of State-owned enterprises, and forming joint ventures and co-operating with all economic sectors, which created conditions for businesses in the sector to thrive.

The sector has invested in upgrading equipment, building new large-scale plants with advanced equipment and technology to raise the production capacity for the sector, he said.

Most of the companies have applied a management system in accordance with ISO  九000, ISO  一 四000, SA  八000, as well as perform corporate social responsibility.

But some targets have not been accomplished, he said.

For instance, the local content rate in products remained low at about  三 五- 四0 per cent, he said, adding that the number of enterprises applying automation in designing and developing products is also modest.

Other targets, including the transformation of product structure and establishing a specialised industrial zone for the sector, especially for leather tanning, have not been done, he said.

Delegates at the seminar said demand for raw materials would also surge strongly, and so if supporting industry is not developed in the coming years, the industry would have to depend greatly on imports, which would make it hard to accomplish its targets.

There are some  一, 七00 enterprises in the sector in Việt Nam, of which  八00 are large. Foreign-invested enterprises account for  八0 per cent of the sector’s exports.

Leather and footwear products are among Việt Nam’s key export items, with exports reaching $ 一 六. 二 billion last year, accounting for  一0 per cent of the country’s total exports.

They are expected to top $ 一 七. 八 八 billion this year.

The country is the third largest footwear maker and second largest exporter in the world. — VNS