After being suspended due to the pandemic, the World Footwear Congress (WFC) will return next year and be held in Istanbul from May 9–11.

Under the auspices of the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry (CEC), the congress will be organised by the Footwear Industrialists Association of Turkey (TASD).

Competing with other cities to host the 2023 congress, Turkey had been a prospective candidate since 2015. The growth of its footwear manufacturing sector, now the largest in Europe, was one of the factors leading to the congress being awarded to this nation.

Carmen Arias, General Secretary of the CEC commented on the congress programme: “We will have three important topics such as the changing perspective of the consumer, new business models and employment, a subject to which we attach great importance, because the footwear industry is an industry that requires a lot of manual labour, and we need to attract more young people”.