Europeans told to overcome Chinese “mental block” at APLF
The organisers of the APLF event in
Speaking at a press conference at the start of the exhibition, APLF director Michael Duck said that, in spite of a strong turnout overall, the number of exhibitors from the Spanish and Italian footwear sector was down.
“They will come back,” he said. “The problem is that, until now, those companies have been able to draw on government subsidies to come to exhibitions like this one, and now those subsidies have gone.”
Instead of relying on government support, he argued that more footwear producers should have the confidence to launch in Asian markets on their own. “There’s a much bigger opportunity here than people realise,” Mr Duck continued. “Here in
He added that only a few exporters in those European countries had taken advantage of this “huge market opportunity” so far and that Chinese manufacturers were filling the gap, launching higher and higher quality products. He urged high-end European brands to overcome the “mental block” many of them appeared to have over competing with
