India signs agreement with Italian shoe makers

Chennai, Oct 22 (UNI) A landmark cooperation agreement, aiming for institutionalised and long-term relationship, was today signed between shoe manufacturers of Tamil Nadu and the Marche region of Italy, here.

The agreement would focus on transfer of skills and expertise from the Italian footwear industry to shoemakers here and assist Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Inda in technology upgradation.

The agreement was signed on behalf of UNIONCAMERE Marche of Italy by the Director of Board Alberto Drudi, and Indian Shoe Federation (ISF) President Aqueel Ahemed.

The cooperation agreement was in pursuance of the ongoing programme of cooperation, 'consolidated project of SME development in India', which was fully funded by the Italian Government with UNIDO as the programme implementing agency.

Bearing in mind the important role played by MSMEs in employment generation and poverty reduction, the project which was meant to implement comprehensive and integrated programme for SME development envisaged the establishment of cooperation agreements between Indian and their corresponding Italian clusters.

The two imporant features of the agreement included the promotion of the Marche regional cluster model within the Chennai footwear cluster and the training activities which would provide technical skills to Indian firms to absorb the best technologies available in the footwear industry.

UNI