Shymkent shoe factory to produce 100,000 pairs annually

Businessman from Shymkent Sanzhar Tlepov is launching a factory to produce men’s shoes, a Tengrinews correspondent reports.

The entrepreneur said that there is virtually no domestic retail of shoes in Kazakhstan. "We want to go big into the market, to produce at least 100,000 pairs annually. If we reach this goal, we can continue to expand," Tlenov said.

The new enterprise receives support from Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund in the form of subsidized interest rate on a bank loan. At the moment, the company produces 1,000 pairs of house slippers per day. The sale is done through major retailers and wholesalers. 15 people are working on the production line.

The businessman explained that he originally wanted to produce shoes on his own but later realized that he needed an experienced partner. "Our partner in Turkey is a shoe manufacturer. Since we have all the equipment here in Shymkent, at some point we will start importing semi-finished products and put them together at our factory," he said.

According to him, the design of the first batch of shoes has already been approved. Retailers will receive the shoes this summer.

"We are planning to produce the first batch of shoes by the end of summer. Our partner is responsible for the design. We also conducted market research and will work based on our findings. The retail price of our products should not exceed $100 to be affordable for people of the middle class but to be superior in quality to the Chinese produce," the businessman explained. He said that the factory will first produce a line of men’s shoes.

The idea of producing, purchasing and wearing domestic products is being actively supported by Kazakhstani officials.

In Febuary, President Nursultan Nazarbayev urged to launch a “Made in Kazakhstan” campaign. He called Kazakhstanis to be patriotic and buy Kazakhstan-made products.

Reporting by Assemgul Kassenova, writing by Dinara Urazova