Risk of EU taxes on Chinese shoes is creating a boom in Thailand’s shoe-production. As a result, Ecco is now expanding their production capacity at their factory in Thailand. With an investment of about 30 million DKK the production will be increased with 25 per cent to five million pairs of shoes annually, Administrative Director at Ecco Thailand, Kitti Chaiwattanatorn, tells the Bangkok Post this week.
Mr. Chaiwattanatorn informs that the increased production aims to help Ecco benefit from the new free-trade agreement between Thailand and Australia – and a similar agreement between Thailand and Japan which is expected to be finalized soon.
At the moment 60,000 Ecco-shoes are sold each year in Australia and 1.5 million in Japan, but only few of these shoes are made at Ecco’s factory in Thailand.
“There is a huge potential in Australia and Japan, since we only export about 10,000 pairs of Thai-made Ecco-shoes to each of those countries right now,” says the director.
Ready in Six Weeks
The new investment in the factory in Ayutthaya will also include a production line, which is to create the latest models. With its present technique, the factory needs six weeks in order to be ready with a new shoe model – however, after the new investment it will be able to start production on new models instantly.
