Lefaso, the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association, is the source of the news hitting the Vietnamese press as the local association reported that in the first half of the current year several giant multinational companies are diverting orders from China to Vietnam.

Companies such as Nike, Adidas, Puma and Timberland are being listed as examples of the groups shifting the sourcing options for their production. Lefaso reported that in the first six months of the year its localization ratio rose 25% compared to the same period last year.

Soaring labor wages and the rising levels of pollution in China are some of the issues prompting companies to move orders to other countries, including Vietnam.

According to data released in July by the General Department of Customs in Vietnam, the Asian country exported 943.03 million US dollars’ worth of footwear in May and 3 888.9 million US dollars in the first five months of this year, increasing 9.5% and 21.2%, respectively, compared to similar periods last year.

Besides attracting many footwear manufacturers, Vietnam is currently home to some manufacturing plants of many tech giants, who also arrived in the country after scaling back operations in China. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Intel, LG and Microsoft have operations in the country.