Doubts in Vietnam about FTA benefits to footwear - footwearbiz: Leadin

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Doubts in Vietnam about FTA benefits to footwear

20/11/2013
After a fifth round of negotiations in Hanoi earlier this month and a discussion in the European Parliament on November 12, Vietnam and the European Union appear confident of settling a new free trade agreement (FTA) before the autumn of 2014.

The EU is currently Vietnam’s largest export market and the country’s second-largest trade partner, with $30 billion of trade in 2012. In turn, Vietnam is the EU’s fifth largest trade partner. In the first half of this year, Vietnamese exports to the EU increased by 25% and EU exports to Vietnam went up by 20%.

It is unclear to what extent an FTA would change the trading partners’ relationship regarding footwear. Vietnamese exporters currently pay duties of 12.4% on footwear shipments to the EU. Removal of these duties is an attractive incentive, but Vietnamese footwear firms have expressed doubts about their ability to secure enough local materials to meet the FTA’s requirements.


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