The story told by shoes - Chairman Ha Duy Hung on three decades of Dong Hung

Speaking to the press, Chairman Ha Duy Hung recalled starting out when Vietnam's footwear industry was close to zero: no market, no management experience and little capital.

Dong Hung grew from contract manufacturing, learning technique and management from foreign partners while building capital and people. On that base the company moved into its own design work and localised most materials for export footwear.

What has not changed, he says, is seeing a shoe as a fashion product: demand is steady, but it requires refinement and constant renewal. That view still shapes Dong Hung's product development today.