Shoe makers call on govt help

(ANSA) - Milan, February 15 - Italian shoe manufacturers on Monday called for government intervention to mitigate a drop in the volume of global exports of nearly 5% in 2015, driven by the fall in oil prices, devaluation of the ruble and geopolitical tension among other things.
    The value of exports over the same period rose by 2%, however. "We are suffering as a result of sanctions against Russia, which have sent buyers from Russia and the ruble area running," shoe manufacturers' association Assocalzaturifici president Annarita Pilotti said. In the first ten months of 2015 the volume of sales in Russia fell by 32%, in Ukraine by 44.6% and in Kazakhstan by 23.6%, Assocalzaturifici said. "Our government ... must intervene in Europe to denounce the serious damage suffered by the Italian economy," Pilotti added. The call came on the second day of the annual international theMICAM shoe fair in Milan, where visitor numbers on day one were up 13% over last year. Pilotti called for recognition of the investment made by manufacturers in research and innovation, along the lines of companies operating in the chemical or mechanical sectors. "Each new collection can cost between 100,000 and 1.5 million euros depending on the size of the firm," the Assocalzaturifici president said. Help could also come from the regions under the coordination of Marches executive regional councillor for economic development Manuele Bora. He is expected to gather regional representatives to call for a revision of sanctions against Russia and explore new markets.
    "Overexposing ourselves in the eastern market was a mistake," Bora said.
    "Italian footwear needs to look to the whole world within a programme of globalisation. I have in mind the US and Iran," he concluded.