YEREVAN, JANUARY 13, ARMENPRESS: The fame of the shoes of Armenian production has faded due to different problems, though the strategy of the sector development allows to positively predisposing towards the future of the shoe production. The Armenpress correspondent tried to touch the pulse of the local shoe manufacture, touching upon the post-Soviet decline of the volumes of the shoe production, the raw leather exported from Armenia to Turkey, the flood and pricing pressure of the Chinese-Turkish production in the local market, the introduction of the international leading design methods in Armenia and other issues.

In the Soviet times Armenia was one of the main centers of shoe production. In 1990 18 million pairs of shoes were produced in our country, 70% of which with natural leather. 80% of the shoe production is centralized in Yerevan. At present 600-700,000 pairs of shoes are produced in Armenia, about 20 times less than the indicator of the Soviet times.

The Government of the Republic of Armenia declared the light industry a priority sector. On December 6 the industrial council at the Prime Minister of Armenia approved the light industry strategy and action plan. According to the document, in 2018 it is intended to sell shoes costing about $37 million and in 2023 - $75-80 million. In 2012 shoes costing about $15 million were sold in Armenia. It is also intended to make the export of shoes from the current $1,6 million to 45 million in 2023.