The Colombian city of Cúcuta will be the setting for the meeting chosen by the chambers of the Latin American footwear industry to hold the 25th Latin American Footwear Forum. In this case, the choice fell there because that region, on the border with Venezuela, is a pole of development for the sector and a symbol of integration in the new relations with this country, reports CueroAmérica.

Photo of the leaders present at the Latin American Footwear Forum held in Guatemala.

This year it is Colombia’s turn to organize the event and that is how Willian Parrado, director of Economic Research and Projects of the Colombian Association of Footwear, Leather and Manufactured Industry (ACICAM), proposed to the representatives of the business entities of the Latin American region, hold it in Cúcuta.

Parrado reported that the meeting, scheduled for June 22 and 23, will be attended by businessmen and delegations from the footwear industry chambers of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, among others.

“All of Latin America, in the footwear sector, will be present in Cúcuta and we will touch on issues related to interregional trade, legal trade, sustainability and we will also talk about the North Santander region. We see that it is very strategic in this city, given the commercial reopening with Venezuela, one of the most important borders and that calls us to an integration process,” he said.

The director of Economic Research and Projects of Acicam indicated that this is a very important event for the footwear chambers, an area in which the capital of the department stands out, since in 2022 this industry exported US$2.9 billion. 

“Cúcuta is one of the most important footwear clusters in the country and hence the importance of choosing it as the venue for the forum. The Mayor’s Office and the Chamber of Commerce have said that they will join in with their support,” Parrado stressed.

For Sergio Castillo, president of the Cúcuta Chamber of Commerce, this event is the recognition of the footwear sector for the city, which is and has been representing and which contributes to the development of the North of the Santander region.

The Colombian city of Cúcuta is a focus of attention due to the progressive reopening of the border with Venezuela, since in the past the footwear sector had strong business in exports with Venezuela”, highlighted the manager.

The last edition of the Latin American Footwear Forum, which took place on August 8 and 9 in Guatemala, was developed under the slogan ‘Sustainability in the footwear industry’, where these practices were analyzed along with technological and commercial issues.