Receiving the representative of the Swedish Consulate and the Swedish Development Agency (SIDA)team
Within the development and support programme for the shoe and leather industry (Competitiveness Development Project for SMEs in Palestine), implemented within the framework of cooperation between Hebron leather and shoe cluster (Shoghol Al Khaleel) and the Global Communities Foundation (GC) through the Small Enterprise Center (SEC) and funded by the Swedish Development Agency (SIDA), on Wednesday, 11/12/2024, Mr. Amer Arafa, Chairman of the Hebron leather and shoe cluster and President of Palestinian federation of leather industries, received Ms. Annika Lysén representing the Swedish Consulate in Jerusalem and a team from SIDA and partner institutions in the project.
The meeting started with a tour of the Shoe and Leather Products Development Centre and its departments and services, and ended with a meeting that included the partners of the centre and the project and discussed in detail the project's interventions and their desired impact on the sector.
Mr Amer Arafa thanked SIDA and the project leaders for the support and cooperation they have provided and will provide to support the footwear and leather sector within the project (Developing Competitiveness of SMEs in Palestine), and indicated that these interventions come within an integrated strategy to advance the sector, and during the meeting he highlighted the craft village and its strategic importance to the sector.
For his part, Mr Abdo Idris pointed out the difficulty of the challenges facing the industry in general and the shoe industry in particular, especially after the recent war that increased the challenges, and stressed the need to overcome the obstacles facing the industry, especially the logistical arrangements between Jordan and Palestine.
At the end of the meeting, the delegation visited the Hebron occupation exhibition to view Palestinian products and learn more about the business model used in the exhibition.
It is worth mentioning here that the project is implementing a set of interventions in favour of the sector, such as; developing the local e-commerce platform my shoes.ps
as well as creating a global e-commerce platform on Amazon to sell locally-made shoes, in addition to training employees on export procedures and finally supporting scientific research in favour of the sector.
The meeting started with a tour of the Shoe and Leather Products Development Centre and its departments and services, and ended with a meeting that included the partners of the centre and the project and discussed in detail the project's interventions and their desired impact on the sector.
Mr Amer Arafa thanked SIDA and the project leaders for the support and cooperation they have provided and will provide to support the footwear and leather sector within the project (Developing Competitiveness of SMEs in Palestine), and indicated that these interventions come within an integrated strategy to advance the sector, and during the meeting he highlighted the craft village and its strategic importance to the sector.
For his part, Mr Abdo Idris pointed out the difficulty of the challenges facing the industry in general and the shoe industry in particular, especially after the recent war that increased the challenges, and stressed the need to overcome the obstacles facing the industry, especially the logistical arrangements between Jordan and Palestine.
At the end of the meeting, the delegation visited the Hebron occupation exhibition to view Palestinian products and learn more about the business model used in the exhibition.
It is worth mentioning here that the project is implementing a set of interventions in favour of the sector, such as; developing the local e-commerce platform my shoes.ps
as well as creating a global e-commerce platform on Amazon to sell locally-made shoes, in addition to training employees on export procedures and finally supporting scientific research in favour of the sector.
Publish Date: 2024-12-11
