Hundreds of Portuguese footwear companies to promote themselves in 16 countries this year

This year, a record-breaking 200 Portuguese footwear companies are going to take part in promotional actions in 16 countries, as they invest in consolidating their sales to Colombia, Chile and Peru and prepare to enter the USA, the sector’s association has announced today.

According to the Portuguese Association of the Footwear, Components, Leather Goods and Derivatives Industry (APICCAPS), the programme, which is made up or more than 60 promotional actions, will start this month with the participation of 70 companies in 12 specialized actions, the first being the Expo Riva biannual fair, which will take place from Saturday to the 17th in Italy.

The footwear sector’s promotional plan for 2017 is part of "the long-term internationalization strategy” which the association believes has contributed to the "continuous growth" of the sector’s exports during the last few years. 2016 was the "seventh consecutive year of growth in the sales of Portuguese footwear abroad ".

And – as APICCAPS highlights -- "if 2016 was the year when we started investing in the Japanese market, 2017 will at the same time be a year of strategic consolidation (in such markets as Colombia, Chile and Peru, after three years) and of preparing for entering new markets (USA in 2018)".

A strategy which, he notes, translates "an increasingly concerted presence in areas outside the EU ".

According to data compiled by the association, since the 'Portuguese Shoes' sectorial campaign was launched, Portuguese footwear exports have already increased more than 55%, and today amount to 1.9 billion euros.