Saigon Leather and Shoes Fair 2005 to be Held

Saigon Leather and Shoes Fair 2005 to be Held

The 2005 Saigon Leather and Shoes Fair will be held at the Gymnasium of Military Region Seven, Ho Chi Minh City, from June 29 to July 3, 2005.

After the 2003 and 2004 fairs, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has guided the local Department of Trade to co-operate with the Leather and Shoes Association of Ho Chi Minh City to organise the event in order to promote the export of Vietnamese-made footwear products. Vu Van Minh, member of the association’s executive board, said that the fair would include 100 pavilions, doubling that of the two previous years. Apart from makers in Ho Chi Minh City, other enterprises in Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Long An will join the fair. The association has invited foreign customers and footwear enterprises in the north to take part in the event and visit workshops of local makers.

In 2004, Vietnam earned US$2.7 billion in footwear export turnover. The 2005 figure is expected to reach US$3.2 billion. 

Nguyen Vinh Nhung, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Trade, said that the local authorities hoped that the fair would become a forum for Vietnamese and foreign customers to understand more about Vietnamese leather and footwear industry.

• S.P