Belarus’ footwear output should be increased by 100-150% in the current five-year term, Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich told media as he visited the Minsk leatherworking association on 20 January. The enterprise hosted a government session meant to discuss leatherworking and footwear industries development.

The government believes it would be optimal to increase the national footwear output by 150% by the end of the current five-year term in comparison with 2011. The amount will then satisfy 70-75% of the home market demand.

Mikhail Myasnikovich believes that leather footwear production and leather accessories production should be developed. There are leatherworking and footwear enterprises with good traditions to make it happen. “Structural and economic mechanisms should be worked out for the industry to be developed and become competitive home and abroad. It is the main goal of the meeting. Unfortunately, one has to admit that the economy of the industry and its output are below the government’s expectations”.

The government session is supposed to analyze problems of the footwear and leatherworking industry, to discuss ways to improve its effectiveness, including via state support as a temporary measure meant to secure highly effective operation of the industry. The session will also evaluate the performance of state and private enterprises. The government believes that state and private enterprises should be present on the market.

Belarusian manufacturers have to improve the quality of their make, to expand the product choice to compete with foreign manufacturers, primarily Russian and Chinese ones. The home market is covered primarily by special footwear, footwear for the military, for construction workers and the footwear does not need high-quality leather materials, said Mikhail Myasnikovich. Meanwhile, medium and top end footwear leaves much to be desired.

According to the Economy Ministry, last year Belarus imported about 25 million pairs of footwear while the domestic output was under 10 million pairs. Mikhail Myasnikovich believes the situation should be fixed with qualified personnel and the available manufacturing capacity. He said Belarusian footwear can be and should be sold domestically and in the Eurasian market. “Our footwear is competitive. We should export more,” he added.

Speaking about import substitution, Mikhail Myasnikovich said 100% import substitution was not necessary. “If we have to import something, it should be compensated for with our export. We need export-oriented enterprises, including footwear ones,” he said.