Thailand's Export Promotion Department is hoping that the Bangkok International leather Fair (BIL) 2001 will prove to the world that the country's leather industry is capable of high quality and innovative design. The department is trying to encourage domestic firms to put in a good showing at the fair as part of an effort to increase the quality of the leather industry in Thailand.

Good design is essential for the production of quality leather items, and a Thai designer recently won an award for shoe design from an Italian fashion house. Yuthachai Watanapanich won the second Salvatore Ferragamo award for folding shoes inspired by traditional Thai banana-leaf packaging.

To further encourage design skills an Asian competition has now been set up by the Export Promotion Department, Zen Department Store, the Thai Leathergoods Association, the Thai Footwear Association and the Thai Tannery Industry Association. The top ten entries will be on show at BIL, which is to be held on October 10-14.