ITCE Cairo 2008 expects 25% growth as MENA's textile industry consolidates

Organised by ACG-ITF and supported by Egypt's Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Federation of Egyptian Industries, ITCE'11 expects more than 32,000 trade visitors from 18 countries to attend the exhibition, which will be showcasing products, services, innovations and technologies along with exclusive presentations of management trends, market forecasts and new textile industry developments.

'ITCE has a solid track record of facilitating lucrative sales deals and distribution agreements, which have boosted its status as an international meeting hub for all players in the textile industry. Since its launch in 1993, the ITCE has achieved growth rates of between 30-40%, which makes it one of the fastest-growing industry events in the world,' said Ahmed Ghozzi, Chairman and CEO, ACG-ITF.

'The extensive participation and diverse offerings make the event an ideal interactive venue for manufacturers, distributors, retailers, importers, consumers and potential partners in the Middle East and Africa,' added Ghozzi.

ACG-ITF has commissioned a dedicated international and regional marketing campaign to further promote the event through a number of industry publications, street signage, targeted mail-outs, newsletters, websites and press conferences. Aside from Egypt, the campaign will also include countries such as Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, KSA, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, Yemen and the Comesa agreement member countries.

'We have already gathered a significant number of bookings this early, creating the groundwork for another successful event. The previous exhibition was a huge success as numerous exhibitors vowed to be back in 2008 after they were impressed with the quality of the show and the number of international participants. International firms also consider the event an important platform to assess their potential in the Egyptian market, whose remarkable growth has created a lot of interest,'

said Nora Soliman, Business Development Manager, ACG-ITF.

Egypt is the largest textile manufacturer in the MENA region, with exports of woven and knitted apparel to the United States of America alone expected to exceed $2bn by the end of 2007. Egypt's textile industry has been a major revenue source for the country and has achieved an average growth rate of 6.5% annually. The country earlier enhanced its position as a trading centre for textile machinery after removing all customs tariffs on textile machinery and accessories in 2004.

ITCE'11 covers the entire spectrum of cotton processing operations, including spinning, weaving, converting, dyeing, sewing machines, raw materials and garment manufacturing. It has also been designed to facilitate exchange of information, provide expert opinion from industry leaders and develop direct business contacts within the industry and other related and supporting sectors.