Two key export industries - textile and garments as well as leather and footwear - have posted significant gains in the first four months of the year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
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A customer shops for leather shoes at a shop belonging to the Vina Shoes Corporation in HCM City. April footwear exports reached $730 million, bringing total export turnover for the first four months of this year to nearly $2.9 billion. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Phan
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The ministry said textile and garment firms had enjoyed a year-on-year increase of 20 per cent in export value to US$5.9 billion.
Le Tien Truong, deputy general director of Viet Nam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) said many enterprises had export orders until the third quarter and a few had contracts until the end of the year.
The orders are mainly from traditional marketslike the European Union, South Korea, Japan, and the United States, he said.
Truong also said that the success had prompted the Viet Nam Textile and Apparel Association and the HCM City Association of Textiles, Garments, Embroidery and Knitting to hold an international exhibition on machinery in HCM City this year.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Le Duong Quang, said the textile and garment industry was enjoying advantages from the expected signing of agreements like the Tran-Pacific Partnership.
The trade ministry reports that footwear exports reached $730 million in April alone, bringing total export turnover for the first four months to nearly $2.9 billion, up 21.9 per cent year-on-year.
The export of bags, suitcases, umbrellas and hats increased to $821 million in the reviewed period, up 48 per cent against the corresponding period in 2013.
While earnings from footwear exports to traditional markets - the US, Japan, Belgium, Germany and France - increased in the January-April period, the industry enjoyed a major boost via smaller nations like Chile (up 80.85 per cent), Israel (up 120.41 per cent), Greece (up 78.2 per cent) and Poland (up 161.7 per cent).
Industry insiders say the export boom was fuelled by a consumption recovery in major import markets, especially the EU.
The Viet Nam Leather and Footwear Association says the footwear industry is benefiting from several factors including a competitive edge, the introduction of Generalised System of Preferences and the forthcoming signing of the TPP agreement.
The association said Viet Nam's footwear and handbags were particularly competitive in the US, Japan and other parties to the TPP agreement./.