10:07 | Lima, May 18 (ANDINA).
By Karina Garay, Translation: Luis GálvezNorthern Peru isn’t just the birthplace of ancient cultures, tourist attractions or the land of our most famous beauty queens; it is also an important commercial site, especially Trujillo. It is estimated that at least 10,000 people work in the manufacture of shoes in the district of El Porvenir, which is famous for its more than 3,000 families dedicated to this business.
Even if this sector works thanks to the effort and perseverance of the people, the challenges imposed by the different Free Trade Agreements (FTA) signed or close to be signed by our country may represent challenges for this northern business guild.
Due to this context, the mayor of El Porvenir, Luis Sanchez, announced that they will invest in the training of the workers in the district.
This is added to the signature of an agreement with the Municipality of Trujillo, the Italian NGO PITS, the Italian Peruvian Fund and the Ministry of Production with the purpose to construct an Art, Culture and Footwear Research Center.
It will also imply the construction of a test center to improve the level of competitivity of SMEs in footwear and similar products.
Furthermore, the mayor stated that 75 shoe sole machines from Italy will arrive by the end of November. These machines are valued in 500 thousand dollars and will be used to train the micro-entrepreneurs.
These machines will allow to manufacture higher quality footwear and to triple the production of the district. The manufacture of 200 pair of shoes used to take no less than a week, but now, with these new machines, it will take 8 hours. Northern manufacturers from El Porvenir produce at least 2 million pair of shoes annually.
Summary
“75 shoe sole machines from Italy, valued in 500 thousand dollars, will arrive by the end of November. These will be used to train the micro-entrepreneurs”.
Luis Sanchez, mayor of El Porvenir
Notes
The regional directorate of Foreign Trade and Tourism informed that they are analyzing the possibility to include shoe wear fairs and events to some regional festivals, such as the Spring Festival or the National Marinera Competition.
Exports
One of the main markets for the manufacturer from El Porvenir is Lima. 50 percent of the total production is exported to Peru’s capital.
Besides El Porvenir, other districts such as Esperanza and Florencia de Mora also concentrate a big number of shoe wear manufacturers.
(END) LGV/LVT
Publicado: 18/5/2008