The Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA) has urged the government to announce incentives for the leather exporters and improve the infrastructure for leather industry so that they could have some share of the relocation of the leather shoe industry.
The PTA Chairman said in a statement that the leather shoe business was steadily shifting from Western Europe, particularly from Germany, France and Italy to Eastern Europe, China and India as these countries were catering to the needs of the consumers at cheaper rates.
He said that the PTA members received encouraging results for the finest quality finished leather for shoes and leather goods displayed at the shoe industry mega fair held in Bologna, Italy, in October last year.
As a result of the encouraging response by the leather exporters in the fair, which is held twice a year, there were bright chances for increase in export orders for the products, he said.
The PTA Chairman observed that China and India were the main beneficiaries of shifting of shoe manufacturing to this region because of better infrastructure and other allied incentives made available by their governments to the manufacturers and exporters, enabling them to meet the buyers' demand at cheaper prices.
He further said that Pakistan's commercial consular in Italy had recommended that Pakistan's continued presence at Italian fair was a must for retaining a viable position in the Italian market and to further increase the market share in the whole of Europe for which necessary measures had been proposed to be taken by the Ministry of Commerce and the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
The PTA chief said that the shoe manufacturers in Europe nominated the quality of leather, to be used in the manufacturing of shoes made in China and India. Consequently, the leather produced by these countries had the advantage of being nominated for shoe manufacturing, he said.
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