News In Brief

Bosnia/Croatia Bosnian officials said in late December that trade in leather and leather products with Croatia would be conducted duty-free as of January 1, when a bilateral free trade agreement was to come into effect. Source: Hina news agency (Croatia) Karabagh Arkady Ghukasyan, president of the disputed enclave of Karabagh, bordering Armenia and Azerbaijan, has said he will help the local Stepanakert shoe factory to win new orders. The factory is currently working at half their production capacity, but are equipped with modern production technology from Japan and Germany. It is said to have good business potential. Source: Snark news agency (Armenia) Lebanon The newly elected Lebanese government have lowered the import taxes on shoes and leather articles, making life more difficult for the local shoemakers. There is no anti-dumping policies in the country and Lebanon imported more than 15 million pair of shoes in year 2000 (for a population of 3 million). Thus, shoemakers in Lebanon are facing a very difficult period,with some having their production reduced to less than 50% of former levels and facing bankruptcy. World SATRA has obtained the exclusive rights to manufacture and sell Bally test equipment worldwide. This includes the Bally Penetrometer and the Bally Flexometer and manufacturing has transferred to Satra's Kettering headquarters in the UK. China After we went to press with the March issue we were informed that the 2001 China (Shenzhen) International Footwear & Shoetech, Leather & Bags Fair scheduled for March had been postponed until 2002 'due to an unexpected change from the exhibition centre'. Source: Neway International Trade Fairs Ltd, fax: + 852 2811 9156