Dubai creates one-stop shop for multi-billion dollar regional textile business

A new annual event being launched next March, Textile Expo Dubai, will bring together leading manufacturers and thousands of industry decision-makers from the Indian sub-continent, Africa, the CIS countries, as well as the Middle East.

The creation of this important new shop window for the region's textile industry comes as manufacturers are preparing to make massive investments in modernisation to meet the considerable challenge of Chinese competition with the abolition of trade quotas in 2005.

The value of textiles to the region is most vividly highlighted in India, where textile and garment exports are expected to jump from around $13.5 billion in 2003 to $50 billion in 2010, a rise from 3% to 8% of the world's textiles.

In the Middle East, clothing and accessories exports amount to US$11 billion a year, and a US$54 million Textile City being built in Dubai will add to the emirate's status as a major trading hub.

Organised by the UK-based XPO Events / Turret-Rai in collaboration with UAE-based event management and marketing specialists, Streamline Marketing, Textile Expo Dubai will take place from 20 - 23 March 2005 at Airport Expo Dubai. Occupying 25,000 square metres of exhibition space, it will be the biggest event of its kind in the region.

Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Minister of Finance & Industry and Deputy Ruler of Dubai, the dedicated textiles machinery and accessories show will be a one-stop-shop for decision-makers within a wide range of businesses. These include textile and fabrics, fibres and yarn, leather goods, shoe manufacturing, home furnishings, textile dyes and treatments as well as textile recycling and waste management.

Exhibitors from more than 15 countries have already signed up for the event which will attract visitors from the key textile markets of the region including Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Syria, Bangladesh, India, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Africa and the CIS.

Running alongside the exhibition will be a major international textile industry conference, and the organisers are now asking prospective speakers to send their paper proposals to info@textile-expo.com

"The Middle East is now ranked fourth in the world league of fashion and clothing accessories exporters, accounting for almost 5.5 per cent of the global trade," said Nick Webb, Director, Streamline Marketing. "In India, the garment industry is the country's biggest industrial employer, providing jobs for proximately 38 million people and boasting 28,000 exporters of ready made clothing.

"Figures such as these indicate the need to bring a specialised event closer to home for the region's textile and leather goods manufacturers and the response we have so far received from individual exhibitors has been very encouraging."

The choice of Dubai to host the exhibition underlines the Emirate's status as a top-class international event venue. "It is a much cheaper and hassle-free alternative to Europe, where security concerns and visa procedures have becomes more complicated," said Maria Avery, Exhibition Director, XPO Events / Turret-Rai. "We picked Dubai because of its proximity to key textile markets in the area as well as its world-class facilities, huge range of affordable accommodation and easier visa regulations."

Valued at US$2.4 billion, Dubai's textile industry has played a critical role in the Emirate's economic development, and is now the second largest contributor to Dubai trade, including exports and imports. In Jordan, garments topped exports in 2003, accounting for 33.6% (JD 477.9 million) of total exports.

In Pakistan, the garment and textiles industry contributes more than 65% to total export earnings, and by next year annual exports are expected to reach US$10 billion. Sri Lanka's textile and apparel industry is the biggest employer in the manufacturing industry, and the country's top export earner. In 2001 it supplied 53% of the country's total exports and accounted for 69% of its industrial exports.

In Bangladesh, the textile and apparel industry employs 50% of the total industrial workforce and contributes 9.5% of the country's GDP, as well as 77% of total exports. In 2001-2002 the clothing sector alone generated US$4.6 billion in foreign exchange.

In Egypt, the textile and clothing industry is the cornerstone of the country's industrial and economic infrastructure, employing 400,000 workers - not including cotton farmers.

Iran has a workforce of 400,000 in textiles and clothing. Textile and apparel exports grew by 35.6% to US$300.3 million in March 2004, an increase of 39.8%.

Uzbekistan is the world's fifth largest producer of cotton fibre and wants to increase its total output by 50% by investing more than US$1 billion in the textile industry by 2005. The textile industry is Turkmenistan's fastest growing industry, increasing by 38.5% in 2001, producing US$113 million worth of textile goods. In Kazakhstan, annual growth in the textile industry is estimated at US$3 billion per year. Meanwhile, Mauritius is now the world's second largest fully fashioned knitwear producer, the third largest exporter of pure new wool products and Europe's fourth largest supplier of T-shirts.

Textile Expo Dubai has the official support of two of the world's biggest textile associations, the Turkish Textile Machinery Association (TEMSAD) and the Korean Textile Machinery Association (KOTMA). It is also supported by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The organisers have appointed a partner in Baghdad to market the event to textile associations and companies in Iraq, many of whom are now starting to consider investments in modern textile machinery and accessories.