The footwear industry has played an important role in contributing to the growth of Vietnam's economy and in the future, the footwear industry remains a key industry.

In the working session of Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thang Hai and Nguyen Duc Thuan - Chairman of Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association, said that in recent years, the Vietnamese leather and footwear industry South has grown exponentially due to its abundant labor resources, cheap labor and open investment policies, as well as opportunities from trade agreements. to. The industry has more than 700 footwear companies, employing 1.5 million workers. Of which, foreign businesses account for nearly a quarter of total footwear enterprises, employing about 50% of the labor force, accounting for more than 70% of export turnover. In 2016, Vietnam exported $ 17 billion of leather products, shoes and handbags. This figure for the first nine months of 2017 is $ 14.72 billion.

At present, the footwear industry has an average annual growth rate of 12%, accounting for about 10% of the country's export turnover. It is expected that in the next three years, the industry will reach an export turnover of about $ 20 billion a year. This statement is based on the fact that Vietnam's footwear products are now exported to more than 50 countries around the world. In the major markets of the United States, Europe, South Korea and Japan, Vietnamese footwear continued to increase market share and ranked second only to China.

The biggest advantage of Vietnam's footwear industry is the young, plentiful and well-trained human resources. This is also an important advantage for the footwear industry to attract strong investment from foreign manufacturers. However, besides the advantages, the industry also encountered many difficulties such as supporting industries have not developed, machinery manufacturing industry, precision engineering is not able to produce machines, molds while Vietnamese footwear enterprises are experiencing huge costs to import machinery from abroad. In addition, research and development is not well invested by many businesses, while this stage plays an important role in creating significant value added for export products.

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung also affirmed that the footwear industry is a key industry, contributing a great deal to exports, creating thousands of jobs for labor, moreover suitable for conditions and ability. development of Vietnam. Deputy Prime Minister was impressed with the development of the industry over time, such as the local footwear factory - Sahara International JSC has strong growth, impressive, fast approaching the general level of development of the world. The organization, production management, research and development, equipment, machinery, technology application, reduction of environmental pollution load and development of distribution network is interested in the company and many important progress.

On the Government side will continue to adjust the development policies of the footwear and auxiliary industries by reviewing the current regulations and policies are appropriate, realistic, still attractive enough. Investors in footwear industry no longer. The task of enterprises is to overcome the weaknesses to develop the footwear industry into a sector with high production value and high competitiveness in the context of economic integration. To do so, the support industries in the footwear industry have to develop strongly. Domestic enterprises must actively invest in research and development activities rather than looking for foreign enterprises. In addition, local companies should promote the linkages to create large-scale R & D centers.

In addition, LEFASO also plays an important role in the development of the footwear industry, which is providing industry development information, market information, and bridging the business community. The association must actively contact the central ministries and branches to promptly assist the enterprises in solving difficulties in production and business and support the enterprises to fully exploit their potentials.