President of UITIC (the International Union of Shoe Industry Technicians), Yves Morin, has said that the timing of the 2016 World Footwear Congress, which will take place in Chennai from February 3-5, will give delegates the opportunity to visit the India International Leather Fair as part of the same trip.

“This industry is changing a lot,” Yves Morin, President of UITIC (the International Union of Shoe Industry Technicians), said at a press conference in Hong Kong on March 30 to promote the UITIC Congress.

“Workers are expensive and hard to find, therefore future footwear factories will have fewer people and more equipment, more technology. It’s not going to be possible for manufacturers to keep moving to find a cheaper workforce. Yes, some people have moved from China to Vietnam or India, and they may move again, say to Africa or to Myanmar. Then what? After that will they go to the moon? There is no workforce there.”