Tariffs on Vietnam's footwear exported to the EU will be cut from 13-14percent to 3-4 percent this year, according to Chinhphu.vn.
This move is intended to bring the country's footwear exports in line with the EU's generalised system of preferences (GSP).
Tocapitalise on the new regulation, which gives developing countriesunilateral tariff preferences for the 2014-16 period, the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade has directed local footwear producers to designlong-term investment policies that will help boost domestic sources ofmaterials and develop ancillary industries.
This will potentially raise the industry's competitiveness and reduce outsourcing for foreign footwear giants, it said.
Althoughfootwear is the leather industry's key product, the ministry has alsoasked local producers to pay attention to diversifying production toinclude high-quality handbags and wallets as these are also among theindustry's most profitable lines.
The footwear industry's export turnover was 10.3 billion USD in the past year, up 18 percent against the previous year.
TheEU is Vietnam's largest footwear importer, and Vietnam is thesecond-largest footwear exporter to the EU after China, with an exportturnover of 3.4 billion USD in 2013, accounting for 33 percent ofVietnam's total footwear export turnover.
Chairman of theVietnam Footwear Association Nguyen Duc Thuan said the GSP will present agood opportunity for Vietnam's footwear exports to compete against thesame products by EU producers.
In addition to the GSPregulations, Thuan noted that the footwear industry is also expectingsome concessions and incentives from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreementand the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement as footwear is likely to beone of the major beneficiaries of these agreements. Under theEU-Vietnam FTA negotiation, at least 90 percent of Vietnamese goodsexported to the EU will enjoy a tax exemption.
With these goldenopportunities, the footwear industry is expected to gain at least 12billion USD from exports this year, Thuan said.-VNA
This move is intended to bring the country's footwear exports in line with the EU's generalised system of preferences (GSP).
Tocapitalise on the new regulation, which gives developing countriesunilateral tariff preferences for the 2014-16 period, the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade has directed local footwear producers to designlong-term investment policies that will help boost domestic sources ofmaterials and develop ancillary industries.
This will potentially raise the industry's competitiveness and reduce outsourcing for foreign footwear giants, it said.
Althoughfootwear is the leather industry's key product, the ministry has alsoasked local producers to pay attention to diversifying production toinclude high-quality handbags and wallets as these are also among theindustry's most profitable lines.
The footwear industry's export turnover was 10.3 billion USD in the past year, up 18 percent against the previous year.
TheEU is Vietnam's largest footwear importer, and Vietnam is thesecond-largest footwear exporter to the EU after China, with an exportturnover of 3.4 billion USD in 2013, accounting for 33 percent ofVietnam's total footwear export turnover.
Chairman of theVietnam Footwear Association Nguyen Duc Thuan said the GSP will present agood opportunity for Vietnam's footwear exports to compete against thesame products by EU producers.
In addition to the GSPregulations, Thuan noted that the footwear industry is also expectingsome concessions and incentives from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreementand the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement as footwear is likely to beone of the major beneficiaries of these agreements. Under theEU-Vietnam FTA negotiation, at least 90 percent of Vietnamese goodsexported to the EU will enjoy a tax exemption.
With these goldenopportunities, the footwear industry is expected to gain at least 12billion USD from exports this year, Thuan said.-VNA
