Argentina's plan progresses
05/12/2008
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina has put a figure on the amount of money the government will invest to revitalise the economy there.
She announced on December 4 that a total of $3.8 billion would be available across the board to help specific industry sectors survive the global economic downturn.
One of the most advanced plans is one to boost the leather, footwear and meat packer sectors (see leatherbiz.com, November 20 and 26). The government announced on December 3 that a project to launch a state school shoe, made from Argentinian leather, was well advanced.
Official sources have said that, in recent months, international demand for Argentinian leather has fallen by 15%, principally because of the downturn in the US automotive industry and the lack of demand for leather upholstery in cars. The same sources have said that this led quickly to a fall in the value of Argentinian leather of almost 50% and caused major problems for the country's tanneries.
Faced with the possibility of losing thousands of jobs, the government decided to try to boost local demand to make up for the shortfall of orders from overseas, with the school shoe project as one of the main measures it will take to do this. The plan is to have four million pairs of children's shoes, made in Argentina from locally produced leather, ready for the start of the new academic year in March.
Government ministers have been liaising closely with leather and footwear sector organisations and retail chains to get them to support the scheme. The government has also offered to lend footwear manufacturers the money to buy leather from Argentinian tanneries. The school shoes will have a retail price of around $15 per pair.
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