Participants pin hopes on last day of Knit+Tex Expo
Saturday, 12 December 2009
Mehdi Musharraf Bhuiyan
The 2nd Knit+Tex Expo, the annual showcasing of knitwear machineries, is yet to gain momentum, though two days of the three-day event have elapsed by.
The poor turnout has been blamed on the apparent 'downward trend' in the investment in the knitwear sector.
Organised at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city, the fair saw a low turnout until Friday afternoon and the participating companies were mostly unhappy with the meager response.
"The outcome of the fair so far is quite shocking", said Md. Faizus Salehin of Glory Trade. "We have merely received five or six specific commitments from the visitors so far.
"Actually, we have been going through hard times since the beginning of the year, which could be due to a conservative approach to investment in the knitwear sector", said Salehin, whose company claims to have 25 to 30 per cent share of the total knitwear machinery market in the country.
A total of 76 companies from 15 countries including the host, Bangladesh, are participating in the fair showcasing a wide range of industrial machinery and equipments essential at various stages of knitwear manufacturing.
"This event obviously needs some more publicity", said Abu Sayed Talukdar of Fairlon Agency Limited. "The response received from Knit+Tex is meager compared to a number of other apparel machinery expositions held during other times of the year," added the official of Fairlon, the dealer of a number of top global machinery brands including Brother and Siruba.
When asked about the poor response, President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Hoque played down the claim made by the fair participants, asserting that the event has been organised on a larger scale than the last year.
"A large turnout is not the only indication of a successful event; the main thing is to attract the real buyers" Hoque said, adding that the number of participating companies has increased significantly from last year.
"However, the ongoing downward trend in investment in the knitwear sector may have cast a shadow on the fair; as the after-effects of the global recession have come to affect the growth in the knitwear sector", he added.
To support his claim, he informed that the growth in the knitwear sector dropped to 9.0 per cent this year from 14 per cent around the same time last year.
The BKMEA leader also pointed out the chilly and foggy weather condition that has interrupted the city life over the last few days, a possible reason for the low turnout.
Nevertheless, the annual expo has brought the latest and most sophisticated machineries in the knitwear sector under one roof.
A wide range of knitting, sewing, cutting, printing and embroidery machines have been displayed to the prospective customers.
The three-day event ends in the city Saturday and organisers are hoping for a larger crowd on the last day of the event.
The 2nd Knit+Tex Expo, the annual showcasing of knitwear machineries, is yet to gain momentum, though two days of the three-day event have elapsed by.
The poor turnout has been blamed on the apparent 'downward trend' in the investment in the knitwear sector.
Organised at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city, the fair saw a low turnout until Friday afternoon and the participating companies were mostly unhappy with the meager response.
"The outcome of the fair so far is quite shocking", said Md. Faizus Salehin of Glory Trade. "We have merely received five or six specific commitments from the visitors so far.
"Actually, we have been going through hard times since the beginning of the year, which could be due to a conservative approach to investment in the knitwear sector", said Salehin, whose company claims to have 25 to 30 per cent share of the total knitwear machinery market in the country.
A total of 76 companies from 15 countries including the host, Bangladesh, are participating in the fair showcasing a wide range of industrial machinery and equipments essential at various stages of knitwear manufacturing.
"This event obviously needs some more publicity", said Abu Sayed Talukdar of Fairlon Agency Limited. "The response received from Knit+Tex is meager compared to a number of other apparel machinery expositions held during other times of the year," added the official of Fairlon, the dealer of a number of top global machinery brands including Brother and Siruba.
When asked about the poor response, President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Hoque played down the claim made by the fair participants, asserting that the event has been organised on a larger scale than the last year.
"A large turnout is not the only indication of a successful event; the main thing is to attract the real buyers" Hoque said, adding that the number of participating companies has increased significantly from last year.
"However, the ongoing downward trend in investment in the knitwear sector may have cast a shadow on the fair; as the after-effects of the global recession have come to affect the growth in the knitwear sector", he added.
To support his claim, he informed that the growth in the knitwear sector dropped to 9.0 per cent this year from 14 per cent around the same time last year.
The BKMEA leader also pointed out the chilly and foggy weather condition that has interrupted the city life over the last few days, a possible reason for the low turnout.
Nevertheless, the annual expo has brought the latest and most sophisticated machineries in the knitwear sector under one roof.
A wide range of knitting, sewing, cutting, printing and embroidery machines have been displayed to the prospective customers.
The three-day event ends in the city Saturday and organisers are hoping for a larger crowd on the last day of the event.