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New footwear design center opens in India

Jul 18, 2018 India

The country's Minister of Commerce and Industry, Suresh Prabhu, inaugurated a new footwear design and development institute (FDDI) in Hyderabad

This institute is one the three new FDDIs that will be established as part of an investment plan for the leather industry announced by the Indian government ahead of the 2018 Indian International Leather Fair (IILF) in Chennai at the beginning of February.

During his intervention at the inauguration in Hyderabad, Mr. Prabhu said the support package of more than 400 million US dollars will serve a number of purposes. Among those mentioned were infrastructure upgrades, human resources development in the leather sector, jobs creation in the industry, fostering of innovation, especially for what concerns leather technology, and overseas promotion of Indian brands.

Mr. Prabhu further added that design is the most important element when it comes to creating products, stating that Indian traditional products will not be able to survive unless they upgrade to meet global competition. He assured that, for this reason, the new center dedicated to footwear will provide the necessary skill upgrade.

The Footwear Design & Development Institute was established in 1986 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, with three major objectives concerning the footwear industry and allied products: developing human resources, providing and upgrading infrastructure and promoting growth of exports.

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