Khaled Bin Sulayem, Director General of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing today officially opened the Textile Expo Dubai, a major showcase of textile machinery pertinent to the industry. The event was also visited by a 30-member delegation representing India’s thriving fabric and garment industries from all geographical areas of the country.
Backed by the UN and its own government through the Ministry of Textiles, India is witnessing an annual growth rate in textile exports and textile machinery production and is using the Textile Expo Dubai to establish more contacts and build on the success of the industry that currently employs around 38 million people throughout the Sub Continent.
One of the main visitors to the event and at the core of India’s textile industry success, is the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s (UNIDO) backed Cluster Development Program. The Cluster Development Program offers a business model in which a few textile companies which would normally compete with each other, unite under the umbrella of a consortium to conduct joint international marketing activities. Under the program, manufacturing and marketing processes are standardised, achieving economies of scale.
Another successful cluster based consortium attending Textile Expo Dubai is the Textiles Committee, a statutory organisation under India’s Ministry of Textiles. The Textiles Committee helps Indian textiles and clothing companies expand their global business presence.
The committee is assisting a group of consortiums to visit Textile Expo Dubai where they hope to establish mutually beneficial commercial relationships with potential trade partners. These delegates are joined by Cluster Pulse, a non government organisation established to implement cluster development initiatives in the textiles sector since 2001.
Speaking on behalf of the Indian participation at Textile Expo Dubai, Jagat Shah, CEO of Cluster Pulse and CEO of Global Network, an international trade consulting firm said, “We wanted to participate in Textile Expo Dubai so that we could upgrade our textile machinery technology and meet importers and agents of relevant products in the Gulf countries which are an extremely important markets to us.”
Textile Expo Dubai runs until 23 March and has attracted more than 120 leading textile machinery manufacturers and expects over 4,000 trade visitors from major textile producing countries such as India, Pakistan, Iran, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Egypt.
Nick Webb, director, Streamline Marketing and organisers of the expo in collaboration with UK-based, XPO Events/Turret Group said that feedback from visitors and exhibitors alike was extremely positive.
“Since the expo opened yesterday, we have had encouraging feedback from visitors and exhibitors who have commented on the quality of participants. The international seminar running alongside the event that demonstrates the latest textile technology available has also proven very popular. Visitors who had set up pre-arranged meetings with exhibitors and industry associations are also pleased with the results,” Nick added.
Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Minister of Finance & Industry and Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Textile Expo Dubai is officially supported by Temsad (Turkish Machinery Association), Kotma (Korean Textile Machinery Association), CTMA (Chinese Textile Machinery Association) and ITAMMA (Indian Textile Accessories and Machinery Manufacturers Association).
