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| Sunday, 18 January 2004 |
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Lessons on footwear from Thailand by Elmo Leonard Twelve local small and medium-scale footwear manufacturers visited Thailand recently, to provide the much needed impetus to the trade, hit by many constraints which has weighed down the growth of the industry. It was the first visit of a local team of footwear manufacturers to Thailand, which has one of Asia's largest export footwear industries, and is a large manufacturer of raw materials, components and accessories for the industry. The Thai footwear industry is an example of local manufacturers successfully warding off foreign competition from gaining a foothold on its domestic market, while maintaining its competitiveness in exports, Managing Director, Lakpa Footwear, Chandra Kannangara, a member of the delegation to Thailand, said. Thailand's footwear industry had faced a similar situation to that of Sri Lanka, with cheap imports coming in from countries like China, the local entrepreneurs who visited the country said. The Thai government had therefore imposed a tax of 35 per cent on imports. Sri Lanka's footwear exports in 1997 reached $70 million, but scaled down to $33 million in 2001, $19 million in 2002 and $12.43 million from January to July of 2003. Local footwear exports mainly comprise leather shoes for men and women, Eva slippers and sandals and a small quantity of sports footwear, purchased by importers in the UK, USA and Italy. The local footwear manufacturers who visited Thailand were Asiri Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, Ceylon Boot Manufacturers, Diana Shoes, Shoemasters, Roser Workshop, Vindya Enterprises, Footprint, Sunil Leather Line, N.P.N. Perera and Co, Lakpa Footwear, Sena Industries and Mr Cobbler. The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) provided air fares for nine members while the other three had to bear their own expenses. The Sri Lanka Embassy in Thailand also helped to make the visit a success, backed by the Thai Footwear Industry Club, an EDB official said. The visit was also intended to develop a second line of footwear exports; expose local footwear industrialists to up-to-date manufacturing methods and technology; introduce them to footwear machinery manufacturers and raw material, component and accessory manufactures. Local small and medium-scale footwear manufacturers had thus far depended on accessories and components available in the market, which did not fit the needs of overseas buyers, the EDB official said. Managing Director, Shoemasters, Prasad Perera said the secret behind the Thai footwear success is the dedication of their industrialists, political stability in the country and support from the government. Around 39 per cent of Sri Lanka's footwear imports come from Thailand. The Lankan team visited several leading Thai manufacturers including the Pan Asian Group of Companies and Siam Innovations, a leading Eva footwear manufacturer which produces shoes for famous international brands such as Marks and Spencer of the UK and Nike. They also visited mould making factories and factories turning out machinery for footwear manufacture. |
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