As part of a project to promote the internationalisation of European footwear, shoe companies are invited to take part in a first European Trade Mission to Kazakhstan. Supported by the European Commission, around 30 shoe companies will have the opportunity to display and promote their products during the first European Trade Mission to Kazakhstan to take place on April 4-5, 2016 in Almaty. Kazakhstan is seen as becoming an attractive market for footwear companies, with imports growing by a factor of over 10 from 2011 to 2014 and reaching 583 million dollars in 2014. The EU´s footwear exports to Kazakhstan have almost quadrupled from 2010 to 2014, but they still only represent 10% of total imports. The country´s growing population and GDP per capita represent an opportunity for EU companies to increase their exports and acquire a more competitive position as a global supplier of added-value footwear. It is also a propitious time to expand business opportunities in this emerging market as the EU and Kazakhstan initialled an Enhanced Partnership & Cooperation Agreement in January 2015 to facilitate the flow of trade and investment between both partners. Organised by the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry (CEC) in cooperation with European Profiles S.A., the action is co-funded by the European Commission. European footwear companies interested in joining the two-day trade mission are invited to send their expression of interest before 15 December 2015 to the CEC via their national footwear associations.
