Vietnam's footwear export hit a record high of $8.3 billion in 2013, up 15.2 percent year-on-year, said Vietnam's General Statistics Office (GSO) on Tuesday.

Vietnam's turnover for footwear export was 3.75 percent higher than the set target of $8 billion for 2013, said the office.

In December alone, Vietnam earned 880 million US dollars from selling footwear products to overseas markets, up 18.92 percent- year-on-year, said the GSO.

Statistics by Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO) showed that major importers for Vietnamese footwear in the first 11 months of 2013 included the United States, the European Union (EU), Japan and China.

According to LEFASO, Vietnam's footwear sector enjoyed record high export revenue in 2013 mainly due to relatively low labor cost compared to other footwear exporters.

In 2014, the country's footwear export is expected to be further promoted, predicted LEFASO, as taxes for Vietnamese footwear export to the EU in 2014 will decrease to 10 percent instead of the current 13-14 percent thanks to the EU's new regulation of generalized scheme of preferences provided to developing countries including Vietnam.

Experts from LEFASO said Vietnamese footwear industry will become a further beneficiary when the country joins the Trans- Pacific Partnership (TPP). However, in order to receive full benefits of TPP, the sector should increase the localization rate of products by using domestic material or imported materials from TPP members to enjoy the exported tax rate of zero percent, said LEFASO.

Currently, there are about 1,100 companies operating in footwear sector in Vietnam with some 720,000 workers, in addition to thousands of private manufacturers and villages. With the above- mentioned productivity, Vietnamese footwear is expected to meet increasing export demand, according to LEFASO.