Geovana Pagel
São Paulo – Couromoda 2004, the international shoes, sportsgoods and leathergoods fair, will officially launch Couromoda Exporter, a new service to support shoe and leather good export companies. The 31st edition of the fair takes place between January 13 and 16, at the Anhembi exhibition pavilion, in São Paulo the largest financial center in Brazil.
The program will identify Brazilian export companies, the products they make, price ranges, markets reached, international distributors, and other information that may increase the speed and objectivity of communication between importers and exporters.
Francisco Santos, Couromoda president, says that the initiative is one more step in international operation. "Couromoda has been working intensively in Brazilian shoe promotion on the international market for many years, taking Brazilian companies to international events and bringing buyers from all around the world to Brazil," he explains.
According to him, these steps, under the Shoes from Brazil flag, have been an important point in the effort to increase Brazilian export and attract foreign attention to Brazilian shoes. "The creation of the Couromoda Exporter, therefore, is another step in the direction of optimizing contacts that have already been established," he commemorates.
The program will operate on two fronts: during Couromoda fairs, considered the main shoe and leather artifact fairs in Latin America, assisting in contact between visitors and exhibitors, and via Internet, making available information to registered foreign buyers on site www.couromoda.com.
The 2004 edition should have a greater number of visitors than the 2003 edition, when 54,000 professionals attended the fair. Of these, 70% were domestic shop owners and foreign buyers.
2,000 importers are expected
The presence of a great number of foreign buyers is one of the greatest expectations at the Couromoda 2004. Two thousand importers are expected, showing a 15% increase in comparison to the previous fair.
To achieve this, this year the Couromoda directory promoted its largest international effort ever. Apart from advertising the fair during at international events (GDS, Micam, Las Vegas and Mexico), they sent invitations and publicity material to buyers worldwide: 3,300 companies in Latin America; 2,500 in North America and 700 in Europe and Asia.
Brazilian embassies sent word of the fair to importers in 45 countries with potential for buying Brazilian shoes.
When arriving at the fair, all visitors will receive a list of export companies, including the name and complete data; type of product offered, list of international distributors and/or representatives, as well as location of the company stand at the fair. The exporting exhibitors will be identified by the Couromoda Exporter sign, stuck to the front of the stand.
Even before arriving in São Paulo, in January, the exporters will be able to check the list of exhibitors/exporters, available at the Couromoda site for all those who have registered and have a password.
Contact
Telephone: (+5511) 3897.6100
Site: www.couromoda.com
