Following last year’s addition of Hungary as CEC Member, the Czech Republic will become the CEC’s 12th full Member from January 2018. The CEC will work to reinforce the Czech footwear industry while continuing to strengthen its voice at European level through its growing membership.

Members of the CEC were pleased to welcome the membership of the Czech Leather and Footwear Association (COKA) at last week’s CEC’s General Assembly in Brussels. Presently, COKA has member companies and institutions working in manufacturing, retail, and research and testing of footwear, shoe materials, and components in the Czech Republic. The industry also counts with the support of Tomas Bata University in Zlín, which has educated relevant footwear entrepreneurs throughout the decades.

The CEC will support the Czech footwear industry through cooperation on initiatives and projects and by promoting advantageous policies on skills, industry, trade, and other relevant areas.

Following the formal approval of COKA at the General Assembly, the President of the CEC, Mr. Cleto Sagripanti, expressed his satisfaction with the new incorporation since footwear companies in Europe share the same challenges and have much to gain from the European dimension, both in terms of branding and influence as a unified group. “We have already worked with COKA under a European project, and we look forward to closer and regular cooperation with them from this moment onward. We have many topics to address in 2018, from helping footwear companies to thrive in a digitalised world to continuing to push for greater access to new markets, such as MERCOSUR and Indonesia, and we will begin the year stronger than ever.”

The CEC’s current full Members include footwear associations from Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, and together with the Czech Republic, they represent almost 90% of the total EU footwear production value.