Vietnam's footwear exports reached US$ 5.7 billion by November end this year and are likely to reach US$ 6.2 billion by year-end, Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso) has stated.
Vietnam's US$ 5.11 billion worth of footwear exports till October this year are reflective of a year-on-year rise of 25.8 percent. Also, with such impressive export growth figures, footwear became the country's third largest export earning industry, next to garment and crude oil.
Such a rise in footwear exports is mainly attributable to abolishment of the anti-dumping duties imposed on the Vietnamese leather shoes by the European Commission.
However, with most EU nations facing financial crisis, a slump of almost 20 to 30 percent has been noted in volume of Vietnamese footwear exports to the EU in November 2011.
Lefaso foresees the country's footwear sector to grow sluggishly during the next year as compared to the current year, and expects to achieve a growth of only 12 percent during 2012.