School shoes on the way
08/01/2009
Argentina's schoolchildren will be able to wear special shoes when the new term starts in February.
School shoes made by Argentinian footwear manufacturers from Argentinian leather will go on sale in the country's main supermarkets in mid-January, with the launch featuring prominently in advertising campaigns that the retailers and the government have worked on together.
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced a series of measures at the end of last year to boost the manufacturing sector, and she picked leather and footwear as one of the first to benefit with the school shoes plan.
Alberto Sellaro, president of the Argentinian footwear association said on announcing the imminent arrival of the new shoes: "It's thanks to support from the government, and hard work on the part of footwear manufacturers, that we will be able to sell these shoes in supermarkets across the country. The government helped us secure leather at a special price."
The government saw the school project as a way of helping Argentinian tanners and shoe manufacturers in the face of fierce competition from overseas. Output from Mr Sellaro said the member companies of his organisation had produced 96 million pairs of shoes in 2005, a 6% increase on the year before.
However, he made it clear that imported shoes, often made from materials other than leather, were also coming into the Argentinian market in higher numbers. He said: "The main worry we have in the footwear sector are imports, especially from China, which grew by 25% in 2008. If that percentage increases again in 2009, the footwear industry here will be compromised."
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