In the middle of the 1960, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Taiwan were four main footwear Exporters in the Asian market. They were competitors and colleagues as well. They needed to have a platform to share opinions and they started the first edition of the International Rubber Footwear Manufacturers Conference in Taipei, Taiwan in May 1971. The four founding member footwear associations were Hong Kong Rubber & Footwear Manufacturers Association, Japan Rubber Footwear Manufacturers Association, Korean Footwear Industries Association, and Taiwan Footwear Manufacturers Association.

During the meeting, they talked about supply of shoe materials, labor costs, annual report on regional footwear sectors, imports and exports issues and they had decided that the meeting should be held once a year and the four associations should play as the host of the Conference in turn.

In 1982 when the 12th International Rubber Footwear Manufacturers Conference was held in Hong Kong, the Conference name was changed to be " The 1st International Footwear Conference"(The 1st IFC).

A The 12th International Rubber Footwear Conference
(also named and known as the 1st International Footwear Conference ) hosted by Hong Kong Footwear Association, May 21, 1982. Four leaders of the delegations sitting in the front row, from left to right.
Mr. Nack Kyeong KIM(Korean Footwear Industries Association)
Mr. Li Foung YU(Taiwan Footwear manufacturers Association)
Mr. Lit Yen HO(Hong Kong Footwear Association)
Mr. Etsuo TAMURA(Japan Rubber Footwear Manufacturers Association )

Membership of the IFC increased from time to time, at present, the IFC consist of 17 members associations, namely:

Hong Kong Footwear Association (founding and member association of IFC in 1971 )
Japan Footwear Federation (founding and member association of IFC in 1971 )
Korean Footwear Industries Association (founding and member association of IFC in 1971 )
Taiwan Footwear Manufacturers Association (founding and member association of IFC in 1971 )
Indonesian Footwear Association (member association of IFC in 1992 )
Thai Footwear Industry Club-The Federation of Thai Industries (member association of IFC in 1992 )
The Association of Guangdong Shoes Manufacturers (member association of IFC in 1994 )
Vietnam Leather & Footwear Association (member association of IFC in 1996)
Malaysian Footwear Manufacturers Association (member association of IFC in 1997 )
Philippine Footwear Federation Inc. (member association of IFC in 1998 )
Filipino-Chinese Footwear & Allied Industries Association (member association of IFC in 1998 )
Council for Leather Exports- India (member association of IFC in 2000 )
China Leather Industry Association (member association of IFC in 2001 )
Leather goods & Footwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association of Bangladesh (member association of IFC 2015)
Leather goods & Footwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association of Bangladesh (became a member of CIFA in 2015)
Guangzhou Footwear Association (became an associate association of CIFA in 2018)
Cambodia Footwear Association (became a member of CIFA in 2019)

The purpose and the vision of the IFC are to build up a friendly platform for the global shoe and allied industries, for exchanging business information among members, discussing possibility of business collaborations, seeking opportunity to promote win-win technical cooperation in the shoe sector, working together for the better tomorrows for the shoe and allied industries.

Over the past and current years, we are very much thankful to all our member association, we work together to build up the core value of the IFC- Internationalization, Fraternization, Cooperation and Appreciation.

The 6th International Footwear Conference hosted by Taiwan Foolwear Manufacturers Association in May 22, 1987 in Taipei, Taiwan. Four leaders of the delegations siting in the front row. from left to right.
Mr. Yung Jin CHU (Korean Footwear Industries Association)
Mr. Etsuo TAMURA (Japan Rubber Footwear Manufacturers Association)
Mr. C. S. CHEN (Taiwan Foolwear Manufacturers Association)
Mr. Mun CHAU (Hong Kong Footwear Association)

The 14th International Footwear Conference hosted by Taiwan Footwear Manufacturers Association in May 6, 1995 in Taipei, Taiwan.

The 23rd International Footwear Conference hosted by Taiwan Footwear Manufacturers Association in October 19-20, 2004 in Taipei, Taiwan.

As we recall that during the 26th IFC meeting in Chennai, India in 2007 and the 27th IFC meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2008, the IFC members discussed and decided that the 1st edition of the International Footwear Design Competition (IFDC) to be held in Guangzhou concurrently with the Shoes & Leather International Exhibition 2009 in Guangzhou in China. The IFDC organizer was the IFC and the co-organizers were the IFC member associations. The supporters and sponsors were Top Repute Co., Ltd( from 2009 till 2017) , Hong Kong Two/Ten International Footwear Foundation ( from 2009 fill 2011) and Sabatina Wellness Shoe- Peninsular Shoes Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong, from 2011 till 2017 ) and the IFDC was held once a year in Guangzhou concurrently with the Shoes & Leather International Exhibition during the shoe fair.

During the 29th IFC meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2010 and the 30th IFC meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2011, the IFC discussed and decided to establish an organization and at the 31 st IFC meeting in Manila, Philippines, in 2011 the name of the organization was named and to be registered as " Confederation of International Footwear Association " in Hong Kong.

The 29th International Footwear Conference hosted by Viemam Leather & Footwear Association (LEFASO) in September 7, 2010 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

A Certificate of Incorporation was issued on February 20, 2013 to the Confederation of International Footwear Association Limited in Hong Kong. The main activities of the Confederation of International Footwear Association (The CIFA ) are to organize International Footwear Conference (IFC) and also to organize the International Footwear Design Competition (the IFDC) . The IFC member associations are thus accordingly to be the member associations of the CIFA.

The 32nd IFC was hosted by Japan Footwear Federation in October 6~8, 2013 in Tokyo, Japan.

The 33rd IFC was hosted by Council for Leather Exports- India in November 14~16, 2014 in Arga, India.

The 34th IFC was hosted by Korean Footwear Industries Association in November 5~7. 2015 in Busan, Korea.

The 35th IFC was hosted by Taiwan Footwear Manufacturers Association in November 10~12,2016 in Taipei, Taiwan.

The 36th IFC in 2017 was hosted by Leathergoods & Footwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB).

The 37th IFC in 2018 was hosted by Thai Footwear Industry Club-The Federation of Thai Industries.

Guangzhou Footwear Association became an Associate Member of CIFA.
The 38th IFC in 2019 was hosted by China Leather Industry Association.
Cambodia Footwear Association, Mynamar Footwear Manufacturing Association both became Members of CIFA.

In accordance with the circumnavigating order, the next two years International Footwear Conference will be hosted by the following CIFA member associations as follow:
The 39th IFC in 2020 will be hosted by Hong Kong Footwear Association.
The 40th IFC in 2021 will be hosted by Indonesian Footwear Association.

Again we take this opportunity to give our heartfult thanks to all our CIFA member associations for kind and continous support of the IFC, IFDC., we wish you great succwess in your present business and best luck in your future careers.