From October 14–17, 2026, the VFM Vietnam International Footwear Machinery and Materials Exhibition and the VTG Vietnam International Textile and Garment Exhibition will be held concurrently at the SECC Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. As a benchmark joint exhibition covering the entire Southeast Asian footwear and apparel industry chain, the event is rooted in Vietnam's manufacturing heartland and serves the footwear and apparel industries of the ten ASEAN countries, India, Bangladesh, as well as China Hong Kong and China Taiwan regions. It builds a one-stop business platform for technical exchange, equipment procurement, supply chain collaboration, and green compliance. Against the backdrop of global footwear and apparel supply chain restructuring, it creates differentiated industrial value for footwear and apparel manufacturing entities of different economies and positioning.

The global footwear and apparel industry is currently undergoing profound transfer: ASEAN is gradually becoming the core cluster for global footwear and apparel OEM manufacturing, while India and Bangladesh continue to absorb expanding garment and footwear orders; China Hong Kong and China Taiwan regions have long played a pivotal role in order coordination, supply chain management, R&D and quality control, and cross-border investment. However, manufacturing entities across the region generally face common pain points: labor shortages, continuously rising labor costs, increasing pressure from small-batch quick-response orders, tightening EU CBAM carbon tariffs and European and American ESG traceability rules, as well as imbalanced industrial chain supporting facilities, with a large number of factories lacking intelligent equipment, eco-friendly materials, and digital production solutions. VFM focuses on footwear manufacturing machinery, 3D design systems, eco-friendly footwear materials, and leather accessories; VTG covers intelligent textile and garment production lines, knitting equipment, dyeing and chemical auxiliaries, and factory digital management systems. The two exhibitions work in synergy to precisely respond to the region's industrial upgrading demands.

There is a clear industrial gradient within ASEAN. Vietnam is the core for high-end athletic footwear and apparel OEM manufacturing; Indonesia and Malaysia have a foundation in footwear materials and textiles; Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos rely on tariff advantages to undertake basic OEM orders; Thailand has advantages in functional fabrics and leather processing; and Singapore focuses on supply chain R&D and brand trade. Overall, footwear and apparel factories in ASEAN generally suffer from insufficient automation rates, high dependence on external sources for upstream raw materials, and weak green production capabilities.

VFM+VTG exhibitions are rooted in Ho Chi Minh City, covering over 70% of Vietnam's large-scale footwear factories and naturally radiating across the entire ASEAN market. Factories from ASEAN countries can observe cutting-edge equipment and materials at the exhibition site, including AI visual cutting equipment, fully automated molding production lines, supercritical foaming equipment, waterless dyeing and finishing, and water-based adhesives. They can test flexible production solutions on-site to alleviate labor shortages through automation and enhance small-batch rapid-response delivery capabilities. At the same time, the exhibition brings together global upstream footwear and apparel suppliers, helping local ASEAN factories find stable fabric, footwear material, and accessory suppliers locally, reducing raw material import costs and supply chain cycles.

In response to European and American green trade barriers, the exhibition has specially set up a sustainable materials zone, showcasing recycled fabrics, low-carbon sole materials, and solvent-free eco-friendly accessories, helping ASEAN export factories build up ESG and carbon footprint certification capabilities to meet brand customer and EU carbon tariff compliance requirements. For basic OEM manufacturing bases such as Cambodia and Myanmar, the exhibition provides cost-effective equipment selection solutions, helping factories complete basic production line upgrades at low cost; leading factories in Vietnam and Indonesia can connect with high-end intelligent equipment to transition toward high-value-added ODM manufacturing, promoting ASEAN's upgrade from a simple "processing base" to a complete footwear and apparel industry cluster.

Bangladesh is a global garment OEM powerhouse, known for large-scale basic apparel production; India has abundant cotton resources and massive textile capacity. Both countries are important incremental markets in the global footwear and apparel supply chain. However, the industrial shortcomings of both locations are highly similar: incomplete industry chain supporting facilities, with high-end synthetic fabrics, functional footwear materials, and advanced sewing and shoemaking equipment relying on external procurement; low factory automation levels, insufficient production efficiency and quality control stability; and lagging green compliance system development, facing significant export risks under new EU and US carbon tariff and labor audit regulations.

VFM and VTG provide a close-range procurement window for manufacturing enterprises in India and Bangladesh, eliminating the need to travel far to China to find equipment suppliers. They offer one-stop procurement of intelligent sewing machines, automatic cutting machines, footwear molding equipment, and fabric finishing equipment, optimizing existing production lines and escaping low-price OEM competition. Indian cotton textile and footwear enterprises can access functional fabrics, synthetic leather, and high-performance sole materials at the exhibition, filling gaps in synthetic fibers and athletic footwear materials, and taking on more high-value-added orders in the sports category. Bangladesh garment factories can learn digital factory management and low-carbon dyeing and finishing technologies, improve their ESG systems, maintain EU GSP tariff advantages, and expand more mid-to-high-end brand orders. In addition, the exhibition also provides opportunities for local equipment agents and material traders in India and Bangladesh to connect with upstream resources, cultivating local supply chain distribution networks to support long-term expansion of their domestic manufacturing industries.

The footwear and apparel industries in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, China have long ceased to be mere production ends; they are now the order centers, quality control and R&D centers, and capital and supply chain management centers of the global footwear and apparel supply chain. Numerous Taiwan-funded and Hong Kong-funded footwear and apparel groups have established large production bases in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, controlling order resources from international brands and handling product development, supply chain coordination, quality control, and global trade settlement. However, they need to continuously update production line technology, screen high-quality equipment suppliers, and monitor the green compliance progress of their overseas factories.

For leading Taiwan-funded footwear and apparel enterprises, VFM+VTG is a window for close-up inspection of Southeast Asian equipment and new materials. They can compare various smart shoe-making and textile equipment on site to select and upgrade production lines for their overseas factories in Vietnam and Indonesia. At the same time, they can coordinate procurement across branch factories to reduce group equipment procurement costs, and simultaneously promote low-carbon production across multiple factories under their umbrella to uniformly meet the global ESG standards of international brands such as Nike and Adidas.

Hong Kong, China footwear and apparel trading and supply chain management enterprises excel at global order allocation and cross-regional supply chain scheduling. The exhibition provides a platform for Hong Kong businesses to meet in one place with factories from ASEAN and South Asia as well as equipment and material suppliers, to verify factory capabilities on site, find new production partners, optimize multi-location capacity layout, and diversify geopolitical and supply chain risks. At the same time, Hong Kong businesses can introduce digital production and traceability management solutions from the exhibition to strengthen production process control over overseas OEM factories, improve order delivery stability, and continue to leverage their pivotal value in global order coordination.

2026 VFM & VTG is not just an equipment and materials procurement exhibition, but also a synergy hub for the regional footwear and apparel industry. The exhibition brings together manufacturing factories, equipment manufacturers, material suppliers, brand buyers, and supply chain service providers in one place, breaking down regional industry information barriers: ASEAN manufacturing factories can connect with Hong Kong and Taiwan supply chain service providers to obtain orders and quality control solutions; factories in India and Bangladesh can learn from the intelligent and green transformation experience of mature footwear and apparel factories in Vietnam; Hong Kong and Taiwan supply chain enterprises can discover high-quality manufacturing capacity in Southeast Asia and South Asia, expanding their cooperation footprint.

In an environment of continuously changing geopolitical trade rules and rising green compliance thresholds, it is already difficult for the regional footwear and apparel industry to meet the requirements of global brands by going it alone. VFM and VTG provide face-to-face communication scenarios, promote cross-regional industry cooperation, and drive division of labor and synergy: ASEAN handles high-end footwear and apparel manufacturing, India and Bangladesh undertake large-volume garment and basic footwear orders, and Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, China handle R&D and design, order management, and supply chain coordination, forming a complementary Asian footwear and apparel industry network.

Based on the current investment enthusiasm in the Southeast Asian footwear and apparel industry, supply chain transfer trends, and the foundation of previous exhibitions, it is predicted that the overall results of 2026 VFM & VTG will surpass previous editions, becoming one of the most influential industry events in the Southeast Asian footwear and apparel equipment and materials sector.

1. Visitor scale prediction:

The number of professional buyers is expected to keep growing. In addition to the core purchasing groups from local Vietnamese shoe and garment factories, the proportion of factory heads, procurement directors, and technical supervisors from ASEAN countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Malaysia, as well as India and Bangladesh, will increase significantly; supply chain management companies, brand procurement teams, and equipment agents from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, China forming group visits will become a highlight, and the share of overseas cross-regional buyers will further increase. The buyer profile tends to be pragmatic, with the main purposes being production line upgrades, equipment price comparison, new material sampling, and finding long-term suppliers, while the share of pure exhibition-visiting traffic-type visitors will decline.

2. Business transaction forecast:

On-site activities mainly involve intent negotiations, sample confirmation, and solution alignment. Some small and medium-sized equipment and auxiliary materials will generate on-site orders; large-scale intelligent production lines and complete shoe machinery projects mostly lock in cooperation intentions during the exhibition, followed by factory inspections and sample testing before final signing. The greatest commercial value of the exhibition lies not in immediate spot transactions, but in helping exhibitors quickly secure incremental customers in Southeast Asia and South Asia, establish regional agent channels, and reserve an order pool for equipment delivery and material supply over the next 1–2 years.

3. Industry dissemination and brand effect predictions:

The exhibition will become a centralized display window for regional green manufacturing and intelligent shoemaking technology. Leading exhibitors will release low-carbon materials and digital production line solutions, attracting international brand ESG engineers and supply chain auditors to visit, accelerating the implementation of green technologies in Southeast Asian factories. For participating equipment and material companies, the exhibition can help strengthen local brand awareness in Southeast Asia, shorten communication distances with customers in remote production areas of South Asia and ASEAN, and reduce overseas customer acquisition costs.

4. Potential challenges:

On one hand, cross-border travel and visa costs for Indian and Bangladeshi buyers are relatively high, and some small and medium-sized factories have long procurement decision cycles; on the other hand, factory budgets within the region are polarized, with small and medium-sized factories preferring cost-effective solutions, and the conversion cycle for high-end intelligent equipment transactions is relatively long. At the same time, similar industry events in the region divert a small number of buyers.

5. Long-term value predictions:

Beyond the dimension of single exhibition orders, 2026 VFM&VTG will further consolidate Vietnam's exhibition position as a supply chain hub for the footwear and apparel industry in Southeast Asia, continuously promote normalized docking of industry chain resources across ASEAN, South Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, accelerate the automation and low-carbon transformation of the regional footwear and apparel industry, and lay the foundation for industry technical cooperation and capacity layout in the coming years.

The global footwear and apparel supply chain has entered a new stage of intelligent, low-carbon, and regional restructuring. The 2026 VFM & VTG exhibition, with Vietnam as the fulcrum, connects manufacturing bases in the ten ASEAN countries, India, and Bangladesh, links supply chain forces from Hong Kong and Taiwan, China, and addresses the core pain points of footwear and apparel enterprises in different regions regarding equipment upgrading, material procurement, green compliance, and capacity coordination. It is not only a trade procurement event but also a booster for the transformation and upgrading of Asia's footwear and apparel manufacturing industry, helping regional enterprises seize opportunities from global order shifts, enhance overall competitiveness, and jointly build a sustainable and more resilient Asian footwear and apparel industry chain.