The footwear industry in the Philippines has been around for well over a century . In particular, Marikina City which is nicknamed the “Shoe Capital of the Country”, has held the position of being the pioneer and host to the greater part of the industry.
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| A life-size diorama inside the Marikina Shoe Museum depicting shoe production during the early 1900s |
With the explosive growth of the tourism sector both within the country as well as throughout the world , the demand for comfortable travel footwear has increased correspondingly. Moreover, the prevalence of social media platforms aided in spreading the latest fashion trends among its users, ultimately benefiting the sales of shoe products.
Indeed, footwear has become somewhat of an indicator of not only social status but of fashion sense as well, especially for young consumers.
Amid this development and the current competitive landscape of shoe production in the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) region, a new company has recently elected to build their US$10million-facility in the Subic Bay Freeport.
Datian (pronounced /D?-chhân/) Subic Shoes, Inc., a Taiwanese shoe manufacturing company, put up their 42,800-square meter shoe factory at the Phase II segment of the Subic Bay Gateway Park where they will be manufacturing vulcanized footwear for export. The company was originally established in Taiwan in 1972 as a response to increased demand.
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| Datian Subic Shoes, Inc.’s US10-million dollar facility during its construction |
As a subsidiary of D&T Shoes, Datian Subic Shoes, Inc. is going to “pattern after its parent company with plenty of lines for stitching and has its own rubber compounding, outsoles molding, insoles and arches sponging, rubber gluing and foxing operations”, as stated by company President Vincent Chen.
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| The Taiwanese shoe-manufacturing plant commenced its operation on March 2017 |
The most apparent economic effect of their choice to locate in the Freeport is their hiring of locals. While initially employing about 300 to 500 personnel, that number has now grown to over a thousand and is projected to go as high as 2,500 employees by 2022.
The Taiwanese-funded enterprise will be producing shoe products under well-known international brands such as Converse, Keds, Sperry, and Vans for the American market, along with Hugo Boss and Dr. Martens for the European market
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| A sampling of the international brands that Datian Subic Shoes, Inc. will produce footwear products for |
The company commenced its operation last March 2017 and will be producing an average production output of about 350,000 units per month.