Kantha visits Indian Footwear Components Manufacturers Association pavilion at Leather and Footwear

The High Commissioner of India Ashok K. Kantha visited the pavilion of the Indian Footwear Components Manufacturers Association (IFCOMA) at the Leather and Footwear Fair 2012 on 10 February 2012.

IFCOMA is participating in the fourth Footwear and Leather Fair being organised by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board at BMICH, Colombo from 10 to 12 February 2012.

In the presence of High Commissioner Kantha, Pradeep Aggarwal, General Secretary of IFCOMA and Ranjith Hettiarachchy, Chairman, Sri Lanka Footwear Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation between the two bodies.

The MoU inter alia, provides for exchange of information; sharing of newsletters to update each other on various developments taking place in their respective countries; providing website linkages; encouraging strategic alliances and exploring possibilities to develop business linkages; development and improvement in quality and competitive standards with respect to various products; and exchange of business delegations.

The fair opened on 10 February, amidst considerable local and Indian industry stakeholder presence. India’s is the largest foreign participation in the fair, with 25 exhibitors from IFCOMA. A special IFCOMA pavilion was set up, which will showcase various components and products used in manufacture of shoes and footwear.

IFCOMA has been a partner of Sri Lanka’s footwear industry for a decade now and they have been conducting regular buyer-seller meets in Sri Lanka. Their objective is to create direct country-to-country industry linkages, especially component manufacturers in India and footwear and leather manufacturers in Sri Lanka. They have been quite successful in this endeavour, as seen from the substantial increase in trade between the two countries in this sector.