June 24, 2007	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 08, 1428

LAHORE, June 23: The two-day 9th International Footwear Exhibition, JUFT-2007, began on Saturday with 114 leading footwear manufacturers taking part in the show. The event is organised by the Pakistan Footwear Manufacturers Association (PFMA).

According to the organisers, a large number of buyers from 20 countries including United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Iran, Kenya, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh have arrived to attend the exhibition.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) Director General Agha Zafar Mehdi Shah said the footwear exports had reached $150 million during the first 11 months of the current financial year. He was hopeful that the footwear export would rise by 20-30 per cent in future. The footwear industry provides jobs to a large number of people.

He said the presence of a large number of foreign buyers at the exhibition was significant for the development of footwear exports.