Vietnam's Footwear Exports to Russia Fetch US$4.5Mln in Jan-May

Vietnam’s footwear exports to Russia fetched over 4.5 million in the first five months this year, an on-year rise of 60 per cent, during a slowdown in the EU market, the Ministry of Trade (MoT) said.

 

This increase is attributed to the fact that Russia does not want to rely on so much on Chinese footwear producers, and Russian footwear importers are seeking partners from other countries, including Vietnam.

 

The main Vietnamese footwear items exported to Russia are leather-capped, canvass and sports shoes and sandals of diverse sorts, MoT said, adding that the value of exported leather-capped shoes including sport shoes reached US$760,000, a roughly 4 fold increase on year in the first quarter this year, whilst canvass shoes are estimated at US$701,000.

 

Russia imports US$1.3-1.5 billion worth footwear a year. Last year China’s footwear accounted for some 80 per cent, worth US$1.16 billion, a nearly 50 per cent rise on year, according to the MoT.

 

In related news, recent EU sanctions have caused serious difficulties for one million workers who are working for Vietnam’s leather footwear industry and related-industries, many of whom live on just about one EURO a day, according to a recent research jointly conducted by ActionAid International Vietnam (AAV) and the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso). 

 

According to initial estimates, the sanctions could leave 500,000 local footwear industry workers redundant, as well as an incalculable number of employees in related industries.