The Vietnam Leather & Footwear Association (Lefaso) has set a target of raising the country’s shoe exports by more than 15 percent to $4.5 billion this year, partly by improving the quality of the products and by raising their presence in emerging markets outside Asia. Coming short of a target set by the Vietnamese government, the country’s shoe exports increased by 11.2 percent to $3.99 billion in 2007, with 11.8 percent growth in volume to 502.8 million pairs. The USA remained the biggest client, but exports to China jumped by 56.7 percent to $65.9 million, and those to Russia advanced by 50.6 percent to $28.3 million.