The Council for Leather Exports (CLE) has informed that an increasing number of Indian leather manufacturers and exporters, a major chunk of which includes SMEs, are now looking at France as a lucrative destination for their products. Interestingly, 6.9% of India’s leather exports are shipped to France, which is one of the major consumers of leather.

This observation is likely to boost the confidence of leather export-based SMEs in India, which, post-recession, are scouting for newer export destinations for their products. Besides capitalising on the high demand for leather products in the French markets, these SMEs could also seek to enhance their exports to continental Europe, including countries like Germany, which happen to be one of India’s biggest leather export destinations.

In the meantime, speaking at a Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) conference recently, French consul general Francois Pujolas promoted France as a highly lucrative investment destination for India Inc and invited Indian investments into their country. Indian SMEs should also seek to cash in on this largely untapped opportunity and explore possibilities of forming business collaborations or joint ventures in France, in sectors such as life sciences, food processing, chemicals, IT, automotive, and metal-work, among others.