Exclusive show for Non - Leather footwear by Kerala Footwear Manufacturers Association held in Dubai

Dubai, March 21, 2014: An exclusive event to showcase non leather footwear by the Kerala Footwear Manufacturers Association organized by the Council of Leather Exports (under the Ministry of Commerce, Govt of India), Kerala State Small Industries Association- KSSIA, Confederation of Indian Footwear Industries CIFI, Footwear Design & Development Centre, Calicut – FDDC in association with the Indian Embassy in UAE and hosted by the India Trade and Exhibition Centre m.e. was held at the Traders Hotel in Dubai.

The 1 Day Buyer seller meet was inaugurated by B Rajagopalan, Counsellor, Embassy of India and Sripriyaa Kumaria, Director General ITEC m.e.

Speaking at the inauguration of the event which showcases Kerala’s finest non leather Footwear, Sripriyaa Kumaria Director General ITEC m.e. mentioned that Kerala is a leading hub of high quality poly urethane footwear in India and UAE has a huge market for non leather footwear especially sports shoes. It accounts to about 52% of the total demand of footwear in UAE which is one of the key drivers for ITEC to organize this event. The UAE footwear industry is worth approximately AED 1.3 billion and the footwear industry in general in UAE grew steadily at an impressive average rate of almost 14% per year.

Over 20 leading brands namely Crystal, Fisher, Grippo, Paragon, Hywalk, Jogger, Lunars, Leeds, Mark, Nexo, Shalimar, Stylo, Sincere, Teens, VKC, Win heels showcased their footwear collection and the leading innovation of their products.

Over 160 brands / companies from UAE attended the event which includes major buyers and industry leaders such as EMKE Group, Apparel Group, Landmark namely Shoe Mart, Paris Gallery, Safeer Group, Choithram, Al Manama Group, Al Madina Supermarket, Al Maya Group etc.

It should be noted that India’s export of non-leather footwear has increased from US$ 46.02 million in 2007-08 to US$ 80.27 million in 2011-12

Kerala Footwear industry in particular has moved on to become a Rs 700 crore sector, producing good quality and low priced range products to gain a prominent place in the domestic and international markets. With nearly 100 manufacturing units and roughly 500 ancillary units within a radius of 30-40 km, Kozhikode now churns out close to a third of India’s non-leather footwear output.

Kumaria also mentioned that the footwear industry is expanding at a rate of 25% annually, is poised to become a key player in Kerala's growth story which has further growth prospects for exports and this event has been organized to tap the lucrative UAE and GCC Market and to connect the wholesalers and retailers of this sector.

There has been a 50 per cent annual growth in footwear manufacturing in Kozhikode in the past few years,” said V. Noushad, VP of the Confederation of Indian Footwear Industry and MD of VKC, a footwear firm with a turnover of Rs-  890 crore. Manufacturers now talk of the global market, international designs and Italian and Taiwanese machinery.

He also mentioned that India produces 2065 million pairs of different categories of footwear out of which non-leather footwear - 1056 million pairs. However 95% of the production gets consumed in domestic markets.