European Footwear companies will have the opportunity to display and promote their products during the first European Trade Mission to Kazakhstan. The initiative, supported by the European Commission, will take place from 4-5 April 2016 in Almaty, the major commercial, business and cultural city of Kazakhstan.
The strong commitment to promoting the internationalisation of European footwear companies has led the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry (CEC), in cooperation with European Profiles S.A., to organise a European Trade Mission for footwear manufacturers outside Europe for the first time in 2016. The action, co-funded by the European Commission, will bring approximately 30 European companies together to discover the emerging market of Kazakhstan.
The country is increasingly becoming an attractive market for footwear companies with imports growing by a factor of over 10 from 2011 to 2014, and reaching 583 million dollars in 2014. The EU´s footwear exports to Kazakhstan have almost quadrupled from 2010 to 2014, but they still only represent 10% of total imports. With Kazakhstan´s growing population and GDP per capita, European companies have a unique opportunity to increase their exports and acquire a more competitive position as a global supplier of added-value footwear. It is also a propitious time to expand business opportunities in this emerging market, as the EU and Kazakhstan initialled an Enhanced Partnership & Cooperation Agreement on 20 January 2015 with the aim of facilitating the flow of trade and investment between both partners.
European footwear companies interested in joining the two-day trade mission are invited to send their expression of interest before 15 December 2015 to the CEC via their national footwear associations. The mission will allow companies to discover the major distributors and retailers in Almaty, and to exhibit their products to Kazakh businesses at the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
Do not miss this opportunity and send your application today! Places are limited. For further information, please write to info@cec-footwearindustry.eu .
Press release
27 November 2015
CEC - Brussels, Belgium