A planned additional quota imposed by the European Union (EU) on Chinese and Vietnamese footwear products will benefit the domestic industry as major brands have increased orders from Indonesian manufacturers.

EU will start limiting imports of footwear products from China and Vietnam next month by up to 20 percent less than the countries' current export value of US$5 billion and $2 billion respectively.

"A number of top footwear brands like Nike, Reebok and Adidas have increased their orders from Indonesia due to the quota," Indonesian Footwear Producers Association (Aprisindo) chairman Harjanto said as quoted by Antara on Sunday.

He added that Adidas had opened two new factories here under the names PT Poong Won Indonesia and PT Spotec, while global brand Puma will start producing in the country again.

This development indicated that this year the industry could perform even better than last year, Harjanto added.

Last year, Indonesia's exports of footwear increased to $1.5 billion from $1.32 billion reported in 2004.

Meanwhile, domestic sales reached Rp 4.5 trillion in 2005 as compared to Rp 4 trillion booked in the previous year.

Harjanto said that the trade ministry had helped the industry regain its market through its negotiations with related South Korean and European businesspeople late last year.

However, the government still needed to address labor regulations and financing problems, as well as difficult import procedures for leather, he said.

Footwear manufacturer Prima Inreksa Industries director Elmore Simorangkir added that local banks should support the sector in order for producers to be able to increase production capacity.

He complained that his company found it easier to seek financial support from foreign banks using only proof of a preshipment order from Adidas.

Aprisindo supervisory committee head Anton Supit urged the government to provide more incentives for footwear manufacturers to be able to make use of the EU quota.

"It (the quota) will only last for a limited period. We have to gain benefit from it," he said.