Free trade agreements between ASE AN countries and the EU would helpVietnam's footwear industry enjoy a reduction of tariffs from thecurrent 12.4 percent to zero.

Footwear is one of Vietnam's major exports, accounting for between 7-12 percent of the country's total export turnover.

According to the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso), thefootwear industry includes more than 500 businesses that employ morethan 65,000 workers, 75 percent of them are women.

The EU is an important trading partner for Vietnam and also a traditional market for the Vietnamese footwear sector.

Last year, footwear earned an export turnover of 8.76 billion USD,accounting for 7.6 percent of the country's entire export revenue.Export revenue from shoes alone accounted for 2.65 billion USD andexport revenue from bags was valued at 434 million USD.

Vietnamesefootwear products have several advantages in the EU market, as theanti-dumping levy on Vietnamese leather-upper shoes was lifted. However,the Vietnamese footwear industry faces strong competition from Indiaand Indonesia .

Leaders of Lefaso affirmed that free tradeagreements offer great opportunities for Vietnamese products to accessthe EU's 27-nation market with a population of 499 million people.

Over the past years, trade in footwear between Vietnam and the EU haslargely been the EU importing shoes and bags from Vietnam whileVietnamese businesses use the consultancy service and purchase machinesand equipment from Spain, Portugal and Italy.

In addition, Vietnam's footwear industry is also a beneficiary of projects supported by the EU.

To help develop a sustainable footwear industry, Lefaso has urged localshoes makers to update technology to enhance their productivity andimprove product quality to create high added value products.-VNA