India-New Zealand Business Meet: Agra, the major industrial city of Uttar Pradesh, is now going to establish its presence on the global stage not only as the ‘Taj City’ but also as the “Shoe Capital of the World”. This historic initiative was announced at the ‘India-New Zealand Business Meet’ organized at Hotel Amar Vilas on Sunday. This event, held in the dignified presence of Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and New Zealand Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay, has made it clear that Agra’s footwear industry is going to prove to be a big gamechanger for the economy of Uttar Pradesh. This initiative will bring unprecedented benefits to the state’s business, infrastructure and employment.

3 to 5 times increase in exports: UP will become a big center of foreign exchange

Agra already contributes significantly to India’s leather footwear exports at over 75%. In this meet, there is a possibility of increase in exports from Uttar Pradesh by 3 to 5 times through Free Trade Agreement (FTA), CEPA and bilateral agreements. Partnership in raw material supply and design innovation with countries like New Zealand will further strengthen the penetration of UP products in the markets of Europe, America and the Middle East, which will result in a huge increase in the revenue of the state.

Sanjeevani to MSME sector, lakhs of new jobs will be created

The Agra cluster of Uttar Pradesh currently operates more than 5,000 MSME units, providing direct and indirect employment to 4 to 5 lakh people. This initiative to make the industry a global hub and the influx of foreign investment will lead to the expansion of these MSME units. As a result, new employment opportunities will be created on a large scale for the youth and artisans of Uttar Pradesh and migration will stop.

UP business will take off due to infrastructure and logistics

Uttar Pradesh’s infrastructure will benefit greatly to make Agra more competitive at the global level compared to countries like China and Vietnam. The proposed footwear park at Jewar International Airport and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) will make Agra’s logistics world class. This will make transportation of goods from UP cheaper and faster, which will become a major reason to attract foreign buyers to the state.

‘Brand Agra’ will get new identity, foreign investment and technology will arrive

Under this scheme, Uttar Pradesh will get a new global branding. Agra will be established as the “City of Footwear Excellence” and the products will be given international recognition through GI tag. After the discussion with the New Zealand delegation, it is certain that now not only goods will be manufactured in UP, but large foreign investment (FDI) will also come for joint production and world-class design innovation, which will increase the technical capacity of the state.

In the program, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that the government is committed to providing all possible policy support to the industry (such as zero duty and interest subsidy on components till 2030). Many industrialists including Council for Leather Exports (CLE) Chairman Ramesh Kumar Juneja and Footwear Development Council Chairman Puran Dawar called it an epoch-making step. Certainly this initiative will prove to be a milestone in the goal of making Uttar Pradesh a ‘one trillion dollar economy’.