Saudi Arabia a key target for Brazilian footwear companies
07/06/2018
The initiative, co-organised by industry association Abicalçados and export promotions agency Apex-Brasil, aims to promote Brazilian shoe brands overseas.
Every two years the programme selects countries at which it will target its efforts. For the next two-year period, the companies have chosen to continue their promotional activities in the US, France, the UK and China. In addition, they have selected three new countries to focus on: Peru, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.
“The business owners brought up Saudi Arabia as a desired and interesting market for them,” said Roberta Ramos, project manager at Abicalçados, adding that the challenges of selling in this market have been discussed in detail.
According to the most recent data from Abicalçados, Brazilian companies exported 170,000 pairs of shoes to Saudi Arabia from January to April. This was a decrease of 58% compared to the same period of last year. The value of these exports was $1.29 million, down 61%.
Mr Ramos believes the outlook for exports to Saudi Arabia is good. “When we begin working on a market, exports to that market tend to start growing,” he said, pointing to the Chinese market, which was a target for Brazilian Footwear in 2018-19, as an example.
As part of an increased focus on Saudi Arabia, a study will be carried out to assess the potential of the market. A team will then travel to the country to talk to important figures in the country’s footwear industry. A commercial promotion strategy will then be formulated.
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