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Of the figure, overseas shipment of footwear increased by 13.16 percent on year to US$23.24 billion while export turnover of suitcases and bags stood at US$3.8 billion, up 9.7 percent.

The U.S. was the biggest importer of made-in-Viet Nam footwear products by occupying 36.5 percent of the market share in the first 11 months of 2024, followed by the EU, China, Japan, and South Korea.

Despite the sector's significant contribution to Viet Nam's total export earnings, the added value of domestic producers remained limited. This was primarily because Viet Nam mainly engaged in contract manufacturing and relied heavily on raw materials imported from China, South Korea, and ASEAN countries.

In 2025, the footwear and leather industry targets to raise export value to around US$29 billion, up 10 percent from the previous year.

The industry will also gradually apply higher standards such as green production, green products to conquer demanding markets such as Japan, Europe, and America.

Local enterprises have initially approached large e-commerce platforms like Alibaba and Amazon to open up more consumption channels.

They are encouraged to seek and use environmentally friendly materials and with clear origins, use domestically produced raw materials to minimize risks and ensure product quality. Modern technologies should be applied to improve production efficiency, minimize waste and save energy./.