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Major Shoe Company to Open Office in Ethiopia

Brown Shoe Company, a US based footwear producer, is going to establish an office in Ethiopia for the purpose of buying domestic footwear products which it will export.

According to the Director General of Leather Industry Development Institute (LIDI), Wendu Legesse, Brown is going to open its office in the 2014/2015 fiscal year.

The Director General added the shoe producer exports its products to China; nonetheless it is encouraging Chinese firms to produce footwear in Ethiopia.

Brown’s opening office in Ethiopia will not only increase production but also bring international knowledge and standards, Wendu commented. He added the company will also provide capacity building and laboratory service.

Wendu noted, “Brown Shoe has provided scholarships for seven experts who worked at LIDI and four of them are already taking the training”.

In related news there is also another global footwear producer that has showed interest to invest in Ethiopia; Stella. Stella makes 52 million pairs of shoes every year.

Commenting on this Wendu said, “Stella paid two visits to the country and is interested in investing here. We are also encouraging synthetic leather shoe producers, who produce sneakers and sports footwear, to invest in the country”.

According to Capital Brown Shoe Company is a Missouri based company owning 1,100-store Famous Footwear chain, 100 specialty retail stores in the United States, Canada and China under the Naturalized name, as well as Shoes.com, the Company’s e- commerce subsidiary.

Source: Capital