Greater public-private collaboration to develop the footwear sector

In the last month of 2020, representatives of FICE -Federation of Spanish Footwear Industries- met with members of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, to present their strategic Plan for the Footwear sector with several lines that seek to promote innovation, digital transformation and sustainability as key pillars for the development of the Spanish footwear industry.

On behalf of FICE, the members of its delegated committee attended the meeting, who in turn lead the regional associations of the main productive areas of the sector: Valencian Community, La Rioja, Castilla La Mancha and Murcia; together with technical personnel of the Federation.

On behalf of the Administration, Raúl Blanco, General Secretary of Industry and Small and Medium Business of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, participated in the meeting, together with the Deputy Director General of Industrial Areas and Programs and the deputy in Congress Alejandro Soler.

During the meeting, the impact covid-19 is having on the footwear sector was explained and how the lines of the Plan raised, in addition to responding to this situation, are a roadmap for the future of the sector that will allow it to consolidate its position as an international benchmark for the production of quality footwear. The Plan has a global approach since its objectives and contents show the value chain from beginning to end and the diversity that exists among the companies in the sector.

At the meeting, the future of the industry was discussed and the unique opportunity that the European Next Generation EU Funds represent for the consolidation of the international leadership of Spanish footwear on the basis of sustainability and digitization. The willingness to maintain an intense public-private collaboration at the national and regional levels for the financing of projects and that they reach SMEs, the majority in the Spanish footwear industrial sector, was also addressed.

Spain is the second European footwear producer after Italy, with 2,677.4 million euros in exports and more than 29,000 jobs in 2019, shaping a resilient and fundamental industry for the economy of their respective areas of specialization, based in seven autonomous communities: Valencian Community, La Rioja, Castilla La Mancha, Murcia, Balearic Islands, Aragon and Andalusia.

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