Leather and footwear exports rose 13.8 per cent in the first seven months to US$2.75 billion, according to the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association.
Nguyen Van Khanh, its general secretary, said the country remained the world's fourth largest footwear producer and exporter.
Vietnam turns out 800 million pairs of shoes of various kinds, 120 million bags, and 150 million square feet of tanned leather products a year and exports them mainly to the US, EU and Japan.
Exports to the US rose sharply in the first seven months to $700 million, accounting for 25 per cent of the country's total exports.
The growth in exports to the US was a positive sign since the EU, Vietnam's key market, no longer offered preferential tariffs for Vietnamese shoe products under the GSP (Generalized System of Preferences), he said. The EU was also set to extend anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese leather shoes until 2011.
Tran Ngoc Quan, head of the EU Division at the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Europe Market Department, said the obstacles to exporting leather and footwear to the EU could still remain this year.
To boost exports in remaining months this year, Vietnamese exporters should focus on high-value contracts, the association said. If the sector continued to maintain the current export growth rate, however, the year's target of $4.6 billion could be achieved, it said. However, a shortage of labor had become the biggest problem for footwear companies and was affecting exports.
Large companies should consider building dormitories for workers to retain them, the association added
