Ipoh Shoe City set to relive Perak’s shoemaking glory

IPOH: A former mining area in the Pengkalan Light Industrial Area here is being developed into a footware manufacturing centre known as the Ipoh Shoe City.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said the project, which would relive the glory of Perak’s past as the country’s biggest shoemaker, was being built with an allocation of RM100 million provided by the Perak Footwear Industry Association.

He said the 10.8-hectare Ipoh Shoe City, which is expected to be completed within the next eight years, would bring together hundreds of local shoemakers to a well-planned common site instead of working from their homes or backyard, he added.

“The project was developed through a well-thought-out planning between the Perak government and the Perak Footwear Industry Association to create a shoe-based city as the state was once the country’s largest shoe manufacturer. The shoemaking industry spans 104 years in the state.

“With such a long experience and expertise, I hope the project will be another notable product not only in Perak but also Malaysia,” he told reporters after officiating the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ipoh Shoe City’s Convention Centre project here on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Perak Footwear Industry Association Chairman Lee Min Choy said besides the convention centre, the Ipoh Shoe City project also involved the construction of 128 factories, 18 shops and a hotel.

“The convention centre will be equipped with shoe exhibition booths, a shoe museum, shoe wholesale shops and a shoe academy – one of its kind in the country

“Upon completion of the project, I am confident it would attract the attention of the world, as well as foreign buyers and investors, thus contributing to tourism,” he said.

Currently Perak has more than 200 shoemakers, who are licensed to make local and world-renowned shoe brands, based in Menglembu and Bukit Merah, Ipoh, he added.

“The sales volume of the industry has reached RM60 million a year and with the completion of the Ipoh Shoe City, we hope it will transform the cottage industry into small and medium enterprise industry,” he said. - Bernama