Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s export turnover from leather products and footwear isestimated to hit 21.5 billion USD in 2019, a year-on-year rise of 10 percent,said the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO).

The growth isattributed to growing demand for leather products and footwear in Vietnam’smajor export markets in the remaining months of the year.

Vietnam’sfootwear products have been shipped to more than 100 countries and territoriesworldwide, with export earnings to half of them raking in more than 1 millionUSD each.

Vietnam iscurrently the world’s second largest footwear exporter and the footwear sectorhas greatly contributed to the country’s economic development.

LEFASO’s statisticsillustrated that leather products and footwear export revenue stood at morethan 10.33 billion USD in the first six months of 2019, including 8.53 billionfrom footwear and 1.8 billion USD from handbags.

The US, theEuropean Union (EU), China, Japan and the Republic of Korea were Vietnam’s mainexport markets in the period.

LEFASO alsopredicted that Vietnam’s leather product and footwear production will grow by10-11 percent in 2019.

Truong ThanhHoai, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Heavy IndustriesDepartment, said huge opportunities have been opened up for Vietnam’s leatherand footwear sector by free trade agreements, such as the Comprehensive andProgressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-VietnamFree Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

LEFASO anddomestic firms need to handle current bottlenecks in the sector, notably thebranding issue, he noted.-VNA