HANOI -- Vietnam earned $190 million from exporting handicraft products made from rattan, bamboo, sedge or wool in the first five months of this year, up 42.5 percent against the same period last year, a local association said on Wednesday.

Due to increasingly high demands from major markets such as the European Union, the United States and Japan and from emerging or potential markets including Russia, India and Thailand, Vietnam's handicraft export can reach $500 million in 2019, predicted the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City.

In May alone, Vietnam's handicraft export surged 49.6 percent on-year to $45 million.

More and more foreign people, especially retirees are buying Vietnamese handicrafts to decorate their houses or use them as gifts for relatives and friends, the association said.