With more financial help, Permal Sinnappan is convinced that the shoe industry has a bright future ahead. His company, Banker Shoes, is already manufacturing shoes and soles for both the local market and the region. But he is absolutely confident that this field could become important for the country’s economy.

Permal Sinnappan set up his enterprise, Banker Shoes, in 1983. It is only in 1991 that he created the sister company, Rapid Industry Ltd, that manufactures soles only. What happened is that the field was booming in Mauritius when the first firm opened. But it became more and more difficult to survive since the activity was not as profitable as in the beginning. “Rapid Industry turned out to be our saviour… We owe to it the survival of both companies today. Actually the sole manufacturer now supplies a large number of shoe sellers,” the director of both companies explains.

Permal Sinnappan points out that the shoe sector used to employ some 10,000 people at the time it was booming. “Today, I don’t even know if this number goes up to 2,000. But what I’m certain of is that it has the capacity of creating 50,000 jobs if the government made a move to boost this industry.”

Actually, things seems to be going in the right direction: last month, a delegation with Minister Lesjongard, his secretary at the SME ministry, the manager of the Small and Medium Industry Development Organisation (SMIDO) and the leader of the Association of Footwear Manufacturers (AFM) went to Italy, Greece and England to meet European representatives and seek foreign expertise for all SMEs and particularly in the shoe sector.

This trip was motivated by the visit of a Greek shoe specialist, who asserted that Mauritius had the right savoir-faire to manufacture quality shoes. As for Banker Shoes, its capacity to make quality products has been proved by its winning the SMIDO “best technology award”.

Permal Sinnappan thus remains confident that the minister will soon inform the sector of the forthcoming measures so as to boost the industry. He should soon meet the leader of the association.

According to the director of the shoe and sole companies, the main problem is the shoes imported from China. “These products are very cheap and people prefer to buy them even if they don’t last as long as our products. Raw materials we buy in Mauritius to manufacture shoes cost more than the finished goods coming from China. This should make people conscious that these products are of lower quality than ours. China can manufacture better products and they do so but they prefer to keep them for European markets which, they are sure, will have the financial means to buy them.” He however asserts that shoes coming from Europe are not his main competitors since they target only a small share of the market.

<B>Bright future with exports</B>

Moreover, Banker Shoes doesn’t only make classic or casual shoes. It also specialises in shoes for professionals. “Because every job needs its own pair of shoes. As a result, we make shoes for people working in restaurants, police shoes, army…” This is why the director thinks his firm could have a bright future with exports.

“If we could export those shoes abroad, the industry would be boosted. When you see the huge size of the African continent, you can imagine how good the business could be for us there. We could manufacture goods for their army, police forces and so on… Moreover, the government could kill two birds with one stone with these exports. The textile industry could take advantage of the right to export there and make uniforms for them,” the director strongly states. He is certain of his point. Would the textile industry be ready to abandon its usual goods to specialise in the manufacturing of uniforms? This is another question…