The nation’s export of leather, footwear, and bag products last year reached US$20 billion, representing a decline of 10% compared to figures from 2019 due to a drop in the number of export orders in major markets, according to statistics released by the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso).

Nguyen Duc Thuan, chairman of Lefaso, said these represent encouraging results in the context of the complicated developments relating to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic due to the industry's export target being forecast to drop by between 17% and 18% compared to 2019.

The Lefaso representative also pointed out that despite enduring a turbulent year, Vietnamese firms have significantly improved their resilience as they have proved their capabilities in research, development, design, and management on digital platforms.

Currently, the majority of supply chains and distributors globally are confident in the research and development capacity of local enterprises, especially their ability to adapt to the impact of the epidemic.

Thuan stated that despite Chinese production capacity making up 50% of global output, the nation’s leather and footwear exports to China increased by 15% for the first time, noting that the northern neighbour currently has to import several products which are produced in the country.

These represent positive signs for 2021, with the leather and footwear sector seeing major local enterprises have export orders for the year ahead.

Furthermore, several foreign manufacturing enterprises located in China have started to shift their production activities to the country, which has an annual supply capacity of between VND20 billion and VND25 billion.