BFSHOW celebrates
40 years of Abicalçados
Memorandum of understanding signed for the renewal of Brazilian Footwear
On 21 November, which marked the start of the first edition of BFSHOW – the Brazilian Footwear Show – the stage was set for major celebrations and announcements in the Brazilian footwear industry. As the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados) celebrated its 40th anniversary, at an event held at the FIERGS Auditorium in Porto Alegre/RS, speakers praised the importance of its activity, its goals for the coming years and the signing of a memorandum of understanding to renew the agreement on Brazilian Footwear. The export support programme led by Abicalçados in collaboration with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) provides imports of over R$36 million in actions to promote Brazilian footwear shipments over the next two years.
Attending the event, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, underlined the importance of the footwear industry, which has its main manufacturing centres in the region. In Rio Grande do Sul, the business directly employs approximately 90 thousand people – a third of all jobs in the sector in Brazil. “I congratulate this important association on its 40th anniversary and I strengthen my commitment to the sustainable development of the sector and of Rio Grande do Sul,” he said. Chairman of the Abicalçados Board of Directors, Caetano Bianco Neto, spoke briefly in praise of the association and thanked entrepreneurs for the privilege of having been selected to lead it at this historic moment, which includes not only the celebration of four decades of activity but also the creation of BFSHOW. ApexBrasil president, Jorge Viana, underlined that the Brazilian footwear industry, once the world’s third largest footwear manufacturer and now the fifth – the largest outside Asia – meets all the conditions for returning to the levels of past years.
“Shoes developed here are no lower in quality than those made anywhere else. BFSHOW is proof of that, with its over 130 exhibitors and over 150 buyers from 30 countries. All the conditions are in place to once again be one of the three largest footwear manufacturers in the world. A complete and integrated supply chain and a creative industry that produces high quality shoes,” he concluded. Abicalçados and ApexBrasil recently selected their target markets for the next two years of the Brazilian footwear programme. The chosen priorities are United States, Colombia, Chile, United Arab Emirates, Germany and Angola. The secondary target markets, which will be worked on to understand and set future actions over the next two years, will be Saudi Arabia and Australia.