The first Brazilian fashion fair to be held outside the country ends today in the Chilean capital of Santiago.

Called, logically enough, ‘Brazil Chile Show’ , the event opened Wednesday in the Chilean capital of Santiago where it showcased the finest offerings of over 150 Brazilian footwear, garment, cosmetics and jewellery suppliers. Organised by the Fashion Committee for APEX, the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency and co-ordinated by Francal Feiras & Empreendimentos, the fair is the first in a series that will roll out across Latin America and the Caribbean in the coming months.

Footwear provided the focal point of the event. According to Elcio Jacometi, President of Abicalçados - Brazilian Association of Footwear Manufacturers, though Chile imports 23 million pairs per year, only two million come from Brazil.

"Brazil is world’s third-largest footwear producer but does not export as much as it could," Jacometi observed. "In that it relies very little on imported components or raw materials, the footwear sector has great potential for generating trade surplus. However, in 2001 we managed to export only 171 million pairs against China’s three billion. The fair will hopefully be our first step toward correcting this imbalance while helping to increase our share of Chilean footwear imports. In fact, we hope to at least double our exports to Chile by mid-2003."

As well as generating sales in its own right, Apex and the Brazilian exhibition organiser Francal say they hope the fair programme will act as a launch pad for Brazilian fashion products beyond Latin America.