German sportswear firm Adidas has affirmed Vietnam is one of its most important markets and appears to be a destination for German and European Union (EU) investors.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in a phone talk with Adidas’s CEO Kasper Rørsted on March 1. Photo: Nhat Bac/VGP

Adidas’s CEO Kasper Rørsted made the affirmation in a phone conversation with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on March 1.

Chinh welcomed the news, hoping that Adidas would contribute to promoting economic ties between Vietnam and Germany as well as Vietnam and the EU. At the same time, he pledged to ask authorized agencies to remove barriers that hinder the company’s operations.

During the phone talk, Chinh expressed his hope to have more Vietnamese businesses engage in Adidas’ global supply chain.

The Vietnamese PM shared the government’s green growth and emission reduction strategies and highly appreciated Adidas’ commitment to sustainable production attached to environment protection and effective use of energy.

The executive said the global firm would concretize development opportunities as expected.

Vietnam is the second largest supplier of Adidas after China in terms of factories. As of November 2021, Vietnam was home to 76 third-party factories of Adidas in 48 countries, much more than 27 in the US.

Although China has more factories, Vietnam has the largest workforce producing Adidas products with more than 200,000 workers in Adidas-supplying factories across the nation, compared to 88,000 workers in China, according to William, a researcher in Toronto who has lived and worked in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese suppliers include Eclipse Polymers, Formosa Textile, Regina Miracle International, Starite International, United Sweethearts Garment, Vietnam Elite Global Footwear Manufacturing Company Limited, and are located in more than a dozen different provinces, from the north to the south, including manufacturing hub of Binh Duong and economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City.

In 2021, Vietnam reaped US$20.78 billion from footwear exports, up 4.6% on year, according to the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO), noting that Covid-19 outbreaks had hurt the revenues.

LEFASO said each year, Vietnam produced more than one billion pairs of shoes from top-tier brands namely Adidas, Nike, New Balance, Decathlon, among others.

Meanwhile, Adidas spokesman Stefan Pursche told Forbes Vietnam that 43 out of 100 Adidas pairs of shoes sold worldwide are made in Vietnam.

The country has become a manufacturing hub thanks to its demographics, low wages, the World Bank’s Doing Business rankings, and logistics to determine manufacturing options.