Difficult year ahead for leather-footwear sector: experts
The COVID-19 pandemic will continue creating trouble for the leather-footwear sector in Europe and the US – its key markets for export, in 2021, the Sai Gon Giai phong newspaper reported, citing experts’ opinions.
Hanoi (VNA) – The COVID-19 pandemic willcontinue creating trouble for the leather-footwear sector in Europe and the US– its key markets for export, in 2021, the Sai Gon Giai phong newspaperreported, citing experts’ opinions.
In 2020, the sector shipped overseas 19.5 billion USD worthof products, an annual decrease of 11.5 percent.
As the pandemic has basically been placed under control inVietnam, long-term orders have returned. However, experts said the difficultsituation will prolong throughout 2021.
To counter COVID-19 negative impact, Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, aconsultant for USAID's Linkages for Small and Medium Enterprises Programme,said the only solution for leather-footwear enterprises is to overhaul theirproduction by investing in automation, productivity promotion, and buildingclosed production chains.
There is a rising trend of customers preferring long-lastingproducts over "fast fashion" goods, she noted.
Insiders said leather-footwear production is mostly limitedto Cut, Make, Trim activities, and exports were mostly done via intermediariesrather than directly with importing brands. Companies involved often lack humanresources for information updates on markets and customers. Most of themproduce goods following orders. Their reliance on imported materials alsohinders them from meeting origin rules set by new-generation free tradeagreements.
Cao Quoc Hung, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, affirmeda series of measures are deploying to sustainably develop the sector viabuilding domestic material supply sources, forming domestic leather-footwearvalue chains, and fostering a workforce that can meet firms’ requirement formanagement, design, technique, market development, and R&D.
Ensuring environmental protection and labour safety are alsokey to helping the sector clear technical barriers and integrate deeper in theglobal market, he noted./.
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Illustrative photo (Source: VNA) 
