Despite the anti-dumping tax levied on Vietnamese footwear by the European Commission (EC), the amount of Vietnamese footwear exported to Germany is increasing, making Vietnam the second largest footwear exporter to this European market, after China.

Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent in Berlin quoted the German newspaper “Rhein Post” on September 13 as saying in the first six months of this year, Vietnamese leather shoes exported to Germany increased 10.2% over the same period last year, reaching 41 million pairs. In 2007, Vietnam exported to Germany 71 million pairs of shoes, an increase of 7.2%.

In 2007, Chinese leather shoes exported to Germany accounted for 51% of the total amount of shoes exported to this country, while Vietnamese shoes accounted for 14%, followed by Italy with 7%.

Vietnamese and Chinese leather shoes are favourites on the German market because they are much cheaper than shoes made in Germany and other European countries.

Manfred Junkert, Director of the Association of German Footwear Industry (HDF) said footwear price in Germany will increase due to the higher production costs, which will reduce the purchasing power. German people seek Asian products with beautiful designs and cheap price.