4th Vietnam Footwear Summit 2019

On March 20th, Dezan Shira & Associates' IBA Deputy Manager and Head of the Italian Desk in Vietnam, Filippo Bortoletti, will partake in a panel discussion at the 4th Vietnam Footwear Summit 2019. He will be joined by Diep Thanh Kiet, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association, Gary Raines, chief economist at Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, and Minh Nguyen, executive board member and partner at Eurocham Vietnam and Mazars. They will discuss "How will Vietnam's footwear enterprises maintain competitiveness under ever-changing global trade policies?" 

According to the statistics of the General Administration of Customs of Vietnam, the total export of footwear in Vietnam reached US$14.6 billion in 2017, ranking second in the world after China. At the same time, EVFTA and CPTPP have brought tremendous opportunities for the development of the Vietnam footwear industry, enabling Vietnam footwear enterprises to reduce input costs, access technology more easily, increase productivity and maintain market share in the US, EU and Japan.

However, under the influence of trade protectionism, rising labor costs, the rise of emerging countries and Industry 4.0, Vietnam's footwear industry has also faces new challenge. Both the government and private sector realize that the low-cost manufacturing strategy is not sustainable. How to accelerate investment that increases productivity while enhancing its sustainability have become the most important issues in the development of the Vietnamese footwear industry.

Catch Filippo's discussion on the above topics starting at 11.50am, we hope you will find it of interest.