According to the Association of textile, clothes, footwear and leather of the Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH, in the past year BiH achieved export of footwear in the amount of 642.6 million BAM, while the import amounted to 318.9 million BAM. Achieved deficit amounted to 323.7 million BAM.
More than a half of footwear export was registered in Italy (52 percent), and then in Germany (11 percent), Austria (eight percent), France (five percent), Slovenia (four percent), and Croatia (three percent).
Nearly 90 percent of BiH production is based on the so-called lohn operations, which include operations of finishing, sewing, tailoring and other jobs based on the engagement of workforce for the most famous world fashion brands.
The Association stated that, although according to qualifications the BiH companies are capable of producing and offering high-quality and varied footwear which satisfies a wide spectrum of preferences of buyers, conditions on the market have still not reached the level at which development of their own brand is possible.
Those conditions primarily refer to the industry of production materials which are mostly imported at unfavorable prices, then large tax burden on workforce, unfavorable labor regulations, lack of national strategy, and the like.
According to the data from 2015, it is evident that around 75 percent (or 479.3 million BAM) of BiH export of footwear was registered as final product, while the remaining 25 percent (163 million BAM) are registered as semi-products, or parts of shoes.
(Source: klix.ba)
