The Latin American footwear industry met in Guatemala
The Association of Footwear Chambers of Latin America -ACCAL-, held its XXIV Latin American Footwear Forum in Guatemala, on August 8th and 9th, 2022, at the Grand Hotel Tikal Futura. The host and organizer of the event was GRECALZA -Guatemalan Footwear Union-.
The meeting was attended by representatives and leaders of the footwear chambers of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua, in person; while from Chile, Venezuela and Uruguay participated virtually.
The purpose of the forum was to share experiences, analyze the situation of the footwear sector in each country, sustainable practices, as well as good practices to promote the legal trade of footwear in the region in a way that allows generating a comprehensive development strategy of the footwear industry in Latin America.
On August 8th, at 9:30 a.m., the activities began with a brief opening ceremony, where Mario Mejía, president of GRECALZA, welcomed the delegations of the attending countries, and immediately began the presentations by the respective representatives. These were accompanied by national and international panelists who discussed issues of interest to the sector, such as sustainability, exports, footwear trade in Latin America, the role of customs, etc.
In the presentations of the participating countries, the representatives described the current situation in their markets, where the effects of the pandemic and their recovery strategy were discussed, related to the perspectives generated by the evolution of the global market.
Collective round tables were held, with the intervention of several countries, where issues inherent to the footwear industry were addressed, under the leadership of a moderator.
Finally at 11:30 a.m. on August 9th, the XXIV Latin American Footwear Forum was concluded, with the words of Ms. Carmen María Torrebiarte, President of the Organizing Committee.
The XXV edition of the industrial meeting was announced for 2023 in Colombia, under the organization of ACICAM -Colombian Association of the Leather, Footwear and Manufactures Industry-. It was pending to define its date of realization.
The representatives of Argentina, Daniel Risafi, and Colombia, William Parrado, will be responsible for the aforementioned actions.
Later, in point 5, it was established that the LATIN AMERICAN FOOTWEAR BLOC is the second largest producer in the world, and mechanisms must be sought for a fair, balanced and sustainable development.
ACCAL members reiterated their rejection of all those illegal and unfair practices of international trade. In this regard, three representatives from Argentina, Colombia and Guatemala were commissioned to integrate the Latin American Alliance against Contraband, to participate in the problem and share information.
For its part, Brazil offered its experience in sustainability, and invited companies of the chambers associated with ACCAL to train.
Finally, participants recorded their gratitude to GRECALZA of Guatemala, and to its board of directors, for the effort made and the commitment assumed for the forum to have been successful.
Once the sectoral meeting was over, the EXPOCALZADO GUATEMALA 2022 fair was inaugurated at the Hotel Tikal Futura Convention Center, with the participation of footwear manufacturers and merchants, and industry suppliers. The event lasted until August 11th, was made up of 150 stands and an influx of more than 2 thousand national and international buyers was projected. According to its organizers, it is the largest and most important specialized fair in Central America.
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