By markets, there was an increase of 4.7% in Germany to 16.5 million euros and 43% in France to 16 million euros. In Spain, however, the sector recorded a decline of 19% to 7 million euros. The Portuguese Footwear, Components, Leather Goods Manufacturers’ Association (APICCAPS) is carrying out a series of initiatives to promote the cluster in international markets. After a transversal image campaign to promote leather goods and an action focused on children’s footwear, “Portuguese Shoes Cluster” is the slogan of a new campaign that aims to present the components sector as strategic for the affirmation of the Portuguese footwear industry abroad.

For Paulo Ribeiro, “one of the main competitive advantages of the industry is precisely the fact that within a 50-square-kilometre radius of the city of Porto, there is a wide variety of components and services available to footwear companies”. According to the Vice President of APICCAPS, “Portugal offers exciting solutions to the footwear industry in terms of practically all components and even tanneries”. 

“At a time when there is so much talk of proximity, the Portuguese industry is one of the most qualified in the world, as it has been able to reinvent itself and develop technically and technologically, which has led it to appear on the radar of major international brands in this speciality”. 

At the same time, recalls Paulo Ribeiro, “the sector has ambitious investment plans underway that aim to make Portugal an international benchmark in the development of sustainable solutions”. “It is not reasonable for Asia to account for 90% of the world’s footwear production”, stresses the Vice President of APICCAPS.

In addition, Paulo Ribeiro argues that the strong investments made by the footwear components sector, particularly in the areas of digitalisation and sustainability, place “the Portuguese footwear cluster at the forefront, capable of responding to the new challenges that the market demands at an international level”.