During the meeting of the Italian Manufacturers' Association (Assocalzaturifici), the Chair Siro Badon stated that "without digital skills and an approach to new sustainable production standards, not only does internationalization become tough, but in the medium term, so does survive global competition", and recalled the launch of a few projects during the pandemic to better assist companies in this transition.

On one hand, Siro Badon spoke, for example, of the MICAM Milano digital, which is intended for accompanying companies on new B2B platforms.

On the other hand, as sustainability "is increasingly the starting point for footwear industries investing in research to guarantee high standards of eco-compatibility for their production processes", he highlighted the contributions of the Verified and Certified Steps (VCS) project for sustainability certification. VCS is a registered trademark awarded to companies that complete an assessment, measurement and above all, an improvement pathway focused on performance in all major aspects of business sustainability, in accordance with internationally recognized standards.

War

At the meeting, the Chair of Assocalzaturifici also explained how the war between Russia and Ukraine become a central issue for the progressive recovery of the sector, which experienced an improvement in terms of productions levels last year, but looks now to the second half of 2022 with greater caution.

"Recovery must also mean coming to terms with serious uncertainty and a looming recession caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is exacerbating certain phenomena, like the spiralling costs of raw materials, energy and rampant inflation", commented Siro Badon, speaking of reasons of strategic and political nature to analyse the consequences of the war. Footwear companies (especially in Marche and Emilia Romagna) are being required to embrace quickly diversification to lessen the reliance on the Russian and Ukrainian markets at the same time the government has limited room for manoeuvre, as most resources are being used to limit the consequences of energy price hikes for income support.