Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine February Issue 2019 | Page 23

EVENT REVIEW Massive visitation at the events (18th Garmentech; 2nd Printing & Packaging International Expo; 10th Yarn & Fabrics Sourcing Fair, and 10th GAPEXPO 2019) as well as offering a knowledge sharing platform for stakeholders), the 16th edition of the events were attended by over 1,200 machinery manufacturing organisations from 37 countries including Australia; Austria; Belgium; China; Czech Republic; Brazil; Croatia; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hong Kong; Hungary; India; Indonesia; Italy; Japan; Korea; Malaysia; Netherlands; Pakistan; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sweden; Switzerland; Taiwan; Thailand; Turkey; UK; UAE, and USA. Attending 16th DTG 2019, thrown open by Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Md Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin), BTMA President Mohammad Ali Khokon maintained that textile machinery manufacturers now regard Bangladesh as a hub for textile and clothing machinery sales while underlining that over Taka 70,000 crore has been invested in this sector, which is a record-high for a private sector industry (hinting towards the rapid growth and development the Bangladesh readymade garment sector is making). “Garmentech Bangladesh 2019, with concurrent sourcing shows under one roof, is positioned as a complete sourcing forum for all stakeholders in the RMG sector. As the RMG sector is on a fast track to reach the target of US $ 50 billion of exports by 2021, increasing factory efficiency and adopting practices that allow for the manufacturing of smaller production runs without significantly increasing costs are areas that were addressed in- depth at the shows. We hope it will prepare the sector to reduce lead times, will greatly enhance the appeal of Bangladesh to higher-end labels,” informed Tipu Sultan Bhuyian, CEO, Zakaria Trade and Fair International. “We expect the Government would come forward with more supportive policies with incentives for the development of the garment and textile industries,” stated the BTMA President, while highlighting how gas and electricity crisis are still the prime investment barriers in the textile sector. He called upon the Government to take appropriate and adequate action with all seriousness to address the deficiencies for greater interest of the country and the economy as a whole. Likened to a ‘mini ITMA’, this year, DTG 2019 boasted the largest scale in its 16-year history, with 1,200 brands using 1,650 booths or 30,000 sq.m. in space to display their latest products, up by 25 per cent on year. Highlighting machinery equipment and accessories needed in different stages of textile and garment industrial chains (including upstream spinning, midstream weaving and dyeing and downstream garment manufacturing segments), many renowned brands from the segments took part in the event, including leading spinning equipment suppliers CTMTC, LMW, Murata, Ieter, Saurer and Trützschler; iconic weaving equipment brands Itema, Picanol, Staubli and Toyota; top circular knitting machinery brands Lisky, Mayer & Cie, Pailung, Santoni and TERRO; major flat knitting machinery brands Cixing, Shima Seiki and Stoll; famous warp knitting machinery specialist Karl Mayer; noted dyeing equipment suppliers ACME, Bianco, Fong’s, Monforts, SON-TECH and Thies; and printing machinery specialists Epson, M&R, Mimaki, MS, OZ, SULFET alongside cutting machines from IMA, Kuris and Richpeace; sewing machines supplied by Brother, Pegasus, SIRUBA, Shing Ling, Typical and ZOJE; and embroidery machines from Tajima. In the following section, Apparel Online presents some hand- picked exhibitors and their offerings to highlight if and how the industry could use the same for furthering business needs and goals while being cost-effective, efficient and sustainable. Owing to extensive discussions that AO had with a plentiful of exibitors, the opinions, experiences and product details of several other exhibitors will be encapsulated exclusively for our readers in our upcoming March 2019 issue. www.apparelresources.com | FEBRUARY 2019 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 23