BATA Shoe Group Chairman Thomas Interview

BATA shoe group chairman Thomas interview

Moderator: BATA has pioneered the slogan of "relay the World Expo and bless China" in China. As an international business leader, how do you view the Expo being held in China?

Thomas G. Bata::Bata Footwear Group is very supportive of such a grand event as Expo 2010. This grand gathering can bring people from all over the world to provide opportunities for different cultures and countries to communicate with each other, and promote mutual understanding among different peoples, bring joy and prosperity.

I once visited World Expo in New York and Brussels. Yesterday my son went to Shanghai to see the World Expo. He liked it very much.

We are very pleased and honored to express our support for World Expo, Shanghai, China.

China is in a leading position in all aspects. Obviously, China is well deserved to become the host country of this World Expo.

Moderator: BATA shoe industry has a long history, while China BATA is still very young.

What do you think of the Chinese market and what expectations do you have for China's BATA?

Thomas G. Bata:: China's development is very fast.

The first time I came to China was 15 years ago. Compared with today, it is really not the same.

Happily, in China, BATA has developed to more than 260 stores since its first store four years ago. We have seen a steady growth in BATA China, and we hope that there will be a faster development in the next few years.

As an international enterprise, our operation has been spread over many countries and regions.

The Chinese market has a large population and strong consumption growth. We hope to have a sustainable development in this market.

Another thing we should be happy about is that we have established a product R & D center in China, so China is a sustainable market for us, and also one of the R & D centers that support global business.

Host: what do you think of the development of the global footwear market? What are the future trends?

Thomas G. Bata:: people are happy that everyone needs to wear shoes, and as the population grows, the demand will continue to grow.

With the prosperity of economy, people need higher quality, more innovative and better quality products.

So I believe that the future of shoe industry is very much looking forward to.

Host: BATA has more than 4000 BATA shoe stores worldwide. What is the global development strategy for BATA in the future?

Thomas G. Bata: according to population statistics, we should be able to develop to more than 4000 stores in China.

So the Bata group will do its best to develop new products and use new concepts to expand business.

With the development of the world economy, we can foresee that the future development of BATA will not only increase the number of stores, but also need to segment the market and use more sub brands to meet the needs of different consumer groups.

Moderator: BATA is the only enterprise in the world that owns its own shoe museum. Why did it put forward the idea of building a shoe museum? What is the status quo?

Thomas G. Bata: because we are a global enterprise, as early as 30s and 40s, my parents visited different regions and countries together.

Everywhere I go, my mother always likes to collect shoes with local characteristics and cultural background.

About 15 years ago, she decided to use her collection to create a shoe center, which is the source of the shoe museum.

Actually, the BATA shoe museum's collection of Chinese shoes is one of the largest and most complete collections in the world, and the history of its collection can be traced back to hundreds of years ago.

This shoe museum has become one of the most famous tourist attractions in Toronto, Canada.