India And Africa Will Increase Technical Cooperation In Shoe Leather

Recently, at the India Africa project cooperation forum held by the Federation of India industries (CII), the India business community expressed its intention to cooperate with Africa in leather and leather products.

The leather industry is discussing technology pfer, for example, the Ethiopia Leather Industry Association (ELIA) is exploring technical cooperation with India leather traders on footwear design.

CII said it would do its best to make this happen.

According to CII's report, India and Africa have huge trade potential in leather industry.

Leather industry is an important strategic industry in many African countries, but it lacks design skills and personnel training, while India can provide assistance in these areas.

India is the second largest footwear manufacturer in the world, and footwear exports account for 33% of the total exports of leather and its products.

The main exporters are Britain, the United States, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Holland.

In the fiscal year 2005-06, India - Africa's bilateral trade volume was 9 billion 500 million US dollars, and the 2006-07 fiscal year rose to US $20 billion.