Handbags have become one of the leading export products in Vietnam. The country’s Leather and Footwear Association, known as Lefaso, says the nation produced and exported around a billion dollars worth of handbags last year.
And forecasters suggest the business is on the up, with figures expected to jump to $1.5 billion in 2012. Several leading fashion brands are moving their production plants from China to Vietnam, and the export businesses of existing local companies are expected to develop further. These factors are predicted to inspire the growth.
Most of the handbags will head to the United States as the Trans-Pacific Partnership takes effect later this year. This agreement will see items made in Vietnam taxed at a lower rate than similar products coming from China. That’s great news for the nation which has long competed with China for Western dollars. Price increases and labor costs have been steadily rising in China, so the time seems right for Vietnam to surge ahead.
The tale isn’t as happy in the European Union though. As the region’s debt crisis worsens, exports from Vietnam have dropped between 20 and 30%. Thank goodness the American market is there to pick up the slack!
There’s always been a bit of a stigma surrounding products made in Vietnam, so it’s good news for the nation that attitudes seem to be changing. Would you buy a Vietnamese handbag?
