Under the complex background of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the textile, apparel and leather footwear industries, which have a large contribution to exports and created a large number of jobs, are facing numerous challenges and it is difficult to achieve recovery in a short time.

According to preliminary statistics, a leather shoe company with about 9,000 employees will cost about US$1 million to implement epidemic prevention measures. In addition, production costs also increase by 5-10%.

According to the Secretary-General of the Vietnam Leather Shoes and Handbags Association, Ms. Pan Thi Ching Chung, the association has proposed a plan to gradually open the market in three stages. She believes that the prospects for the leather shoe industry this year or even next year are not optimistic.

The president of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, Wu Dejiang, said that if the epidemic continues, companies will not be able to stabilize production and it will be difficult to retain customers. This is a huge challenge for the textile and apparel and leather footwear industries.

The representative of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Group believes that it is important to ensure human resources in the context of fluctuations in production plans, shortage of vaccine sources and unpredictable epidemic situation.

The representative of Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that the Ministry of Industry and Trade will take multiple measures to provide support for the resumption of work and production in the textile, apparel and leather and footwear industries. At present, we are assisting factories to maintain and resume production to the greatest extent, and make full use of the year-end purchasing season to win orders from the European and American markets.

In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will accelerate the formulation and implementation of the textile, apparel and footwear development strategy (in the near term 2030, long-term to 2035) and the 2021-2030 sustainable development plan for the textile, clothing and footwear industry; strive to consolidate and expand the export market, Make full use of the effective free trade agreements, promote the diversification of export markets, diversify the structure of export products, improve the competitiveness of export products, and focus on brand building.

Source: Vietnamese language learning platform