São Paulo – This year’s edition of the footwear and accessories fair Couromoda was visited by 1,805 buyers from 52 countries. Part of these clients came by invitation from the event’s organization, who said, in a statement released this Friday (23th), that the sector’s exporters could benefit from the exchange rate, which is favorable to foreign sales. The fair was held in São Paulo from January 10th to 14th.
According to the statement, the Couromoda Exporter project offered its support to 77 foreign clients who showed potential to close deals with Brazilian footwear manufacturers. By invitation, there were companies that represent 8,000 points of sale in countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica, Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, Kuwait, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Suriname and United States.
During the fair, the Brazilian Association of Footwear Manufacturers (Abicalçados) also brought in purchasers from abroad in a partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil). One of Abicalçados’ guests was a representative from Shoe Mart, a company with more than 130 shops in Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan. The expectation is that the project by Apex and Abicalçados results in deals worth more than US$ 1.6 million.
Small- and micro-sized companies that attended the fair also obtained good results with the event. The collective exhibition stand that hosted manufacturers from Franca, a city from São Paulo’s inland, had 28 companies, which sold together 127,000 pairs of shoes to Brazilian and foreigners clients. These sales will generate US$ 10.8 million. In turn, the 65 small- and medium-sized companies from Rio Grande do Sul that attended Couromoda made deals worth R$ 14.5 million (US$ 5.6 million).
The 42nd edition of Couromoda was held at Expo Center Norte. In total, the exhibition received 25,000 Brazilians and foreigners.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
