The leather and footwear sector’s exports reached nearly USD 5 billion in the first five months of this year, up 6 percent against the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

In May only, exports of leather and footwear products were valued at USD 1.15 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 0.6 percent.

Workers at Thong Ninh Footwear Company

The production of leather footwear products in May saw a 6.2 percent decline to 19.3 million pairs.

In the January-May period, the sector produced 93.8 million pairs, down 2.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

This year, the sector sets a goal of USD 17 billion in export value, of which USD 13-13.5 billion are from exports of footwear.

Last year, Vietnam gained a high growth rate in export value from the leather and footwear industry at USD 15 billion, an increase of 16 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso). Of the value, USD 12 billion were from footwear.

Source: VNA