Minister will sign Footwear Plan next week
28/09/2007
Spain´s minister for industry, tourism and commerce, Joan Clos, has confirmed that a new state plan to help the country´s footwear sector is "in the final stages of negotiation" with footwear companies and the trade unions.
Visiting the Modacalzado and Iberpiel exhibition in Madrid, Mr Clos said a basic agreement was already in place and that the new aid programme was certain to provide a boost to Spanish footwear brands and manufacturers. "This is a sector that has already shown signs of becoming stronger after something of a crisis," he added.
Recent figures from the Spanish footwear industry federation (FICE) show that between 2002 and 2006, Spain´s leather footwear production fell by 35.7%, from more than 127 million pairs to 82 million. In terms of value, the drop over the same period was 29.6%, from €2.5 billion to €1.8 billion last year.
Recent export figures suggest that the situation may be improving: export values are up by 4.3%, representing what FICE has called "a slow but ongoing recovery". Mr Clos echoed this idea at Modacalzado.
He confirmed that he would sign the new Footwear Plan in Elche, Spain´s principal centre of footwear manufacturing, with Friday, October 5 the most likely day, according to sources from the city.
That part of Spain, the Valencia region, still has by far the largest number of footwear manufacturing firms in the country, 66% of the total, with 1,500 companies operating there in 2006. However, with many of those companies producing for the mid-market, the footwear sector there is likely to continue to consolidate in the face of competition from lower-cost economies. In the region of La Rioja, on the other hand, the number of producers grew between 2005 and 2006 by 8.2%.
In response to a question from footwearbiz.com, Mr Clos said: "I don´t want to place too much emphasis on regional differences. I don´t think we can talk any more about the specialisms of particular parts of Spain the way we did years ago. This isn´t about the region you´re from any more; it´s about how good your business is."
He said the Footwear Plan would address specifically the need to promote greater consumption of Spanish-made shoes among the country´s buying public, but said a FICE initiative called Zapatos de España, aimed at raising the profile of the country´s footwear products inside Spain itself, was already bearing fruit.
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