The 5th edition of Intex South Asia was held recently at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre (BMICH) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The 3-day fair connected over 3,900 international buyers from 20 countries with 220+ suppliers from over 13 countries showcasing yarns, apparel fabrics, denim fabrics, accessories and allied services, dyes & chemicals.
The show was inaugurated by Vinod K Jacob, deputy high commissioner, high commission of India, Colombo with special guests Indira Malwatte, chairperson & CEO, Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) and Saifuddin Jafferjee, deputy chairman, Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) and managing director, JB Apparel. The opening ceremony was well attended by heads of JAAF member bodies, the Indonesian Embassy in Colombo, KOTRA Colombo, TAITRA Sri Lanka, industry leaders, delegates from several countries as well as electronic and print media of Sri Lanka and South Asia.
“Happy to be here at the 5th Intex Exhibition. It is growing and we have been here for the first one as well. We can see that there is much more interest. It is a well-organised exhibition and looking forward to the next three days. It’s an important occasion for textile calendar in Sri Lanka and apparel calendar,” said Jafferjee.
“Next year 2020, I promise we will be here and our booths must be 180 sqm. Of course, Intex is very important for us. We want to extend our business in Sri Lanka and South Asia market,” said Michael Liu of Taiwan Textile Federation.
“We are suppliers of uniforms for airlines, railways and hotels. This is our initial visit to Intex South Asia. We find it very attractive in terms of the number of suppliers of textiles as this provides us a good opportunity to meet all those people. We would be taking part in it for sure next time and we are also on our way to Intex South Asia Bangladesh in the next few days. Thank you very much!” said Piotr Nowaczyk, export manager, Modus Przedsiebiorstwo Odziezowe SA Poland.
As the largest trade fair of its kind in the South Asian region, Intex South Asia welcomed more than 200 leading and quality textile suppliers from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, USA, Switzerland and Netherlands. The show ramped up its offerings not only in terms of new pavilions like the Indonesian Pavilion and large pavilions from India and China but also added categories such as the Dyes and Chemicals Zone which added more depth to the show.
There were Country Pavilions from India with 80+ companies, China with 60+ companies, Indonesia Textile Pavilion with 5 companies, Korea Textiles Showcase Pavilion with 28 companies and Taiwan Textiles Showcase Pavilion with 8 companies. The India pavilion was organised by Texprocil (Cotton Yarns & Fabrics), FIEO (Yarns, Fabrics & Accessories) and Chemexcil (Dyes & Chemicals).
The 5th edition also saw the arrival of confirmed buyer delegations/groups such as the delegates of the Buying Agents’ Association (BAA) from India. These groups were satisfied after their interaction with international suppliers for their textile sourcing requirements and were hopeful that more business would happen post their visit to Intex South Asia.
The host country industry representatives such as Brandix, MAS, Hirdaramani, Timex, Star Garments, Emjay International, Eam Maliban, Kash Garments, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, H&M, Next UK, Decathalon, George, Asmara, Mgf Sourcing, Regal Calibre, etc attended the show in large numbers with their sourcing, merchandising and design teams. Overall, the show was attended by 3,920+ leading apparel exporters, sourcing offices, brands and retailers, indenting agents, e-tailers and others from 20+ countries and regions who came to Intex South Asia looking for new products, new suppliers and to gain market intelligence and explore new business and sourcing opportunities in Sri Lanka and other international markets.
Intex South Asia also organised a panel discussion on ‘Materials, Sustainability & Circularity’ which saw top industry leaders from across the region present their views on sustainability processes of the industry in South Asia. The panellists included KV Srinivasan, chairman, The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil) and managing director, Premiere Mills Ltd (India); Muhammad Shuaib, supply chain manager, Better Cotton Initiative (Pakistan); Demith Goonaratne, manager – environmental sustainability, Hiradaramani International Exports (Sri Lanka); Sharika Senanayake, director of environmental sustainability, MAS Holdings and Felix Fernando, managing director, Omegaline Ltd.
They presented their views on the challenges and future of the textiles and apparel industry of South Asia and how they see the concepts under discussion could be implemented in their respective countries and businesses. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Lloyd Fernando, director of global business development & innovation, Shore To Shore | Expo Industrial Engineering (Sri Lanka). The discussion was attended by a gathering of 300+ industry representatives.
Intex South Asia’s ‘Interactive Business Forums’ always deliver high quality market intelligence to support industry efforts to upgrade, move up the value chain, and better understand intra-regional trade to help manufacturers gain a competitive edge.
This year’s ‘Interactive Business Forum’ was a huge success where for the first time, Cotton Council International (CCI) – also known as Cotton USA – which is the export promotion arm of the National Cotton Council of America (NCC) brought to Sri Lanka the latest in research, highlighting new ideas in technology, fashion, blends, processes, etc. Also presenting for the first time at Intex South Asia was ‘Fashion for Good’, providing insights on ‘Trends & Technological Textile Innovations; Driving Sustainability in the Textile Value Chain’ and its South Asia programme. In the third and last session, the ‘Better Cotton Initiative’ highlighted ‘Sustainability in Textiles’ for a clearer understanding of environmental, social and economic sustainability.
The Q&A interaction afterwards was quite encouraging for the industry professionals (domestic as well as international) who attended the event in large numbers.
The ‘Networking Reception’ organised by Intex South Asia was an event the organisers took the opportunity to celebrate the 5th edition of their show by felicitating their long-term support partners in industry as well as the boards and associations through whose support Intex South Asia has grown to become the largest international apparel sourcing show in the region.
At the end of the 5th edition, there was 20 per cent growth recorded in the buyers’ footfall and 15 per cent increase in exhibitors as compared to last year. This increase was confirmed by both exhibitors and buyers’ feedback who were positive about all aspects of Intex South Asia.
