News: Pou Chen, maker of Nike and Adidas shoes, to invest almost $281M in India

Funding & Investment

Pou Chen, maker of Nike and Adidas shoes, to invest almost $281M in India

Over a period of 12 years, the investment is expected to generate approximately 20,000 job opportunities in Tamil Nadu.
Pou Chen, maker of Nike and Adidas shoes, to invest almost $281M in India

A subsidiary of the world's largest maker of branded sports footwear Pou Chen is set to invest 23.02 billion rupees (US$280.86 million) in an upcoming manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu.

The Taiwanese footwear maker, which produced products for brands like Nike, Adidas, New Balance, and Timberland, posted an uptick in business last year. It manufactured and shipped over 272 million pairs of shoes worldwide in the financial year 2022, up nearly 14 per cent from a year earlier. The shoemaker has footprints in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

"We hope this will be the first of many investments to come (in India)," Pou Chen Vice President George Liu said in an online meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin.

According to media reports, the investment would create about 20,000 jobs in Tamil Nadu over a span of 12 years.

The move came nearly a year after Taiwanese peer Hong Fu Group signed a deal to invest 10 billion rupees to make footwear in the southern state.

Tamil Nadu made 45 per cent of India's footwear exports over the last five years, with many brands, including Giorgio Armani and Gucci, making their products or sourcing raw materials from the state, according to a government agency report.

Other global names like Apple suppliers Foxconn, Salcomp, and Pegatron have also been scaling up their production in Tamil Nadu and the broader country as they look to diversify their manufacturing footprint away from China and Taiwan.

Separately, Pou Chen planned to cut around 6,000 jobs at its Ho Chi Minh City plant in Vietnam due to low demand, Reuters reported in February, citing two local officials.

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Topics: Funding & Investment, Business

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