US$12 billion footwear exports

Export turnover of the footwear industry in 2002 is estimated at US$2 billion, up 25% on 2001, according to the Ministry of Trade. The EU is the major market for Vietnamese foot-wear, accounting for 78% of Vietnam's footwear export revenue. The export value to this market is now seeing a high increase in both volume and price. Meanwhile, export value to the US has increased rapidly since the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement took effect. This year's revenue from this market is expected to gain an increase of 75%, bringing Vietnam's market share from 6.9% in 2001 to 10.3% in 2002. According to the figures of the General Statistics Office, Vietnam earned $1.46 billion from footwear exports in the first ten months. Source: Daily 'Nhan Dan', Hanoi