Biggest international leather footwear components and technology fair to begin from November 8

*220 exhibitors from ten countries, 150 companies to participate

*Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey to inaugurate the “Meet at Agra”

By Brij Khandelwal

Agra November 2 (IANS)

Taj city, India’s  largest footwear cluster with 250 shoe  factories and 5000 cottage units, producing daily 3 to 5 lakh pairs of shoes, that make 65 percent of the country’s total production, will host the three-day international leather footwear components and technology fair, at village Seengna’s Agra Trade Centre, on the Agra-Delhi national highway.  

Agra’s share of shoe exports is approximately 28 percent. The Agra shoe industry provides livelihood to four lakh workers, and is the economic mainstay of the city.

Puran Dawar, president of the AFMEC (Agra Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Council)  and a leading shoe exporter, said the Agra Meet had become an important international event on the calendar of fairs, in the country. “This year shoe component manufacturers from Chennai, Kolkatta, Noida, Kanpur, Mumbai, alongwith representatives from China, Brazil, Argentina, Taiwan, Germany, Italy, Spain and Hong Kong will participate and exhibit their products at more than 150 stalls at the fair, which will be opened by skill development minister Mahendra Nath Pandey. PR Akeel Ahmad, chairman of the Council for Leather Exporters, several state ministers and local MPs and MLAs will join as guests,” Dawar said.

Rajiv Vasan, general secretary of AFMEC, said there would be a series of panel discussions on vital subjects like Sustainable Exports Growth, US-China Trade War, Ease of Doing Business, One Window, ODOP (one district one product, by experts.

Vice president Gopal Gupta said the best  exhibitors will be rewarded and 500 best workers will be given certificates of excellence. For the first time a “shoe clinic model” will be presented for demonstration to help ordinary shoe workers live a dignified and organized life.  

The annual Meet at Agra began in 2007 with just 55 stalls. The number of stalls has now gone up to 225 and the number of exhibitors of machinery, and components from a dozen countries has gone up to 220. From just Rs 1500 million, the business conducted during the three day meet has gone up ten times to Rs 15 thousand million. The organizers of the fair expect a record number of footfalls this season. Agra exported finished leather products, worth Rs 2988 crores in 2016-17. It increased to Rs 3378 crores in 2018-19.

Agra shoe manufacturers are upbeat about conducting good business and hiking exports of shoes fhis year.

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