|
- The fifth Heimtextil India gets a standing ovation from the global textile industry
- High visitor interest is registered with a change of dates and re-location to Mumbai
- India''s textile capital Mumbai, gets energized back into global textile business
Astounding! Unbelievable! Superb! - were the key words emanating from the industry, as the fifth Heimtextil India made its debut in the country''s textile capital, Mumbai, from 10 - 13 October 2004.
More than 10,252 visitors from 96 countries interacted with the 185 exhibitors at the show. Re-positioned with dates closer to the Canton fair in China, and re-located to India''s lively textile and commercial capital of Mumbai, Heimtextil India got off to a rousing start amid cheers from the entire industry.
"Mumbai is without doubt, the country''s textile trading capital and it was necessary for us to be here - come what may. The fair had been held successfully in New Delhi for four years, and we took an enormous risk to move it to Mumbai with new dates. Judging by the overwhelming response from the industry, it was well and truly worth it," said Ms.Shammi Nagpal, Managing Director, Messe Frankfurt India. "The whole exercise was a logistical challenge that became a dream come true. Heimtextil India has without doubt; brought back the former glory of textile trading to Mumbai city, and we are absolutely proud and happy to be the initiator of these changes."
Inaugurating the fair, Mr. J. A. Beckmann, President of the German Confederation of Textile and Fashion Industries declared, "Our delegation of experts from Germany and the European Union came specifically to visit this exhibition in order to get an overall impression of the broad range of products, and to meet the industry. We are amazed with the extremely high quality of this exhibition both in terms of infrastructure as well as the actual exhibitors themselves. India is no doubt the world''s leading textile producer, but we never expected this kind of response from the global industry in Mumbai. There was, an almost incomparable standard of products. During the four days of the exhibition, we met more than 60 extremely high powered textile companies and associations that has further increased our faith in this market of the future".
From the start of opening hours, Heimtextil India was visited by large numbers of serious international buyers who queued up patiently to enter the fair. The visitor response this year more than surpassed that of the previous year, with buyers from countries as far off as Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, China, Poland, Serbia and Japan, placing on- the- spot orders in all product sectors at the fair. Delegations from Korea, Germany and Italy did their daily rounds at the fair with great success.
Enormous numbers of buyers from Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Pakistan and the Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Bahrain, took the opportunity to visit Heimtextil India, signaling new directions this fair is taking as a meeting point for regional textile trade.
Compared to the last event, there was an increased presence of buyers from the UK, Australia and South Africa. Closer home, Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean buyers returned tap the region’s most creative market. Even the tiny island nations of Mauritius and La Reunion were represented with high quality buyers.
That Heimtextil India is very important for the Indian home fashion industry, was evident from the presence of leading Indian manufacturers at the fair, who introduced their new collections in bed, bath, table and kitchen linen and accessories, in interesting combination of hues and textures, based on the trends of 2004 / 2005, ensuring that the international buyer had plenty to choose from.
Several international manufacturers took advantage of the dismantling of trade barriers and quota restrictions in India in January 2005, to participate in the Indian show to get a feel of the enormous market. First time exhibitors from Italy, Switzerland, France, Korea, Pakistan and China reported great success with Indian importers and vowed to return.
Leading buyers from the world''s largest chain stores like Wal-Mart, Karstadt Quelle, BHV, Pier One Imports, IKEA, Zara Home, & El Corte Anglaise, were among the importers that had specifically targeted Heimtextil India as a sorucing point for their next collections. In addition, premium buyers from the Ralph Lauren Home collection, the Dorma Group - U.K, Novatex of Italy, Merchants of S.A - South Africa, Wilkinson UK, Sheridan Australia Pty Ltd of Australia, Kaneka Corporation of Japan, Safrane of France, Rimafil from Spain, and representatives of Pantone, were among the many who were extremely active at the fair.
In the Lifestyles section of the fair, high levels of business were generated judging by the reactions of the exhibitors. According to Mr. Vikash Gupta, Ranvik Exports, New Delhi, "the superbly organized fair and the huge numbers of serious buyers made this a far better event than any other handicraft or gift fair in the country. We had excellent buyers and I will be back next year with a much larger booth".
An outstanding success was Europe''s leading Trend forecaster Gunnar Frank''s Trend show and seminar sessions.
Messe Frankfurt India also organised a large number of interactive meetings between mill owners, leading manufacturers, textile associations and the visiting delegations at the fair, which gave Heimtextil India the dynamic energy of a truly international trade fair.
While the fair remained strictly open only to the trade, Messe Frankfurt India made it a point to invite the Indian textile trading community as well as designers, weavers and local retailers. "The Indian market is changing very rapidly and Heimtextil India must continue its traditional role of bringing people and markets together with new perspectives,"; said Ms Nagpal. "The fair must encourage interaction not only with international buyers but also within the huge and lucrative domestic market." This fact was very much appreciated by many exhibitors who enthusiastically welcomed local retailers to buy their international collections.
"I was absolutely pleased to see a great cross section of major Indian retailers and buying houses at this fair" said exhibitor Ajay Arora, Managing Director, Dicitex Décor. "It allowed us to interact with buyers from all over India, in an atmosphere of a world class exhibition. I was amazed by the superb and flawless execution of the fair and its facilities. More than anything, I was impressed with the huge visitor turnout from overseas. We had visitors from Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Middle East, Jordan, Korea, Canada, Turkey and many buyers from Spain. I can honestly say that I did at least 70% of the business that I do in Heimtextil Frankfurt, right here in Mumbai. I normally participate in 25 textile shows a year and this has been the most outstanding show in 2004. Every single visitor was more than positive".
Heimtextil India 2004 rightfully played its role as a key meeting point for the world''s textile industry looking for opportunities in India with the dismantling of trade barriers and quota restrictions in January 2005. The easing of political tensions between India and Pakistan, appears to have brought the two heavy weight textile neighbours closer than ever before, as scores of Pakistani visitors interacted with Indian manufacturers with great gusto.
The general feedback from both exhibitors and visitors was that the fair reflected the Indian home textile industry in all its strengths - high quality, creativity and competitive prices – making it extremely viable with for global visitors to source from among the best in India and expand trade within the rest of Asia & the Middle East.
Heimtextil India in its fifth event has definitely established itself as a first class meeting place in for global sourcing.
The next Heimtextil India will be held from 10 - 13 October 2005 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai.
Additional statements by exhibitors and visitors:
Exhibitor Comments
Mr. Nari Mehta, Managing Director , Rhoda Textiles, Mumbai "Superb! Fantastic! Fabulous! How did Messe Frankfurt manage all this with little infrastructure? Heimtextil India in Mumbai was absolutely well organized, and brought in a huge visitor turnout from just about all over the world. The publicity for this show was excellent, as were the wonderful signage’s along the highway, and we could feel that this fair has energized the textile capital of India as never before. We will be increasing our space at this fair next year".
Humayun Nasr, Nina Industries Ltd, Pakistan
"Heimtextil India in Mumbai was a fair which very much reflected the Messe Frankfurt brand. The layout of the fairground, the displays of all participants, the very high quality and huge turn out of visitors from many parts of the world, all gave us a most familiar feeling that we are used to at Frankfurt. While it would not be fair to compare the event in Mumbai with that in Frankfurt in terms of visitors, it goes without saying that in the future; Heimtextil India in Mumbai will become one of the most important fairs for the global textile industry. I must take this opportunity to complement the staff of Messe Frankfurt India for their very positive and cooperative attitude towards participants which will definitely make us a permanent exhibitors at this fair."
Jean Louis Raguenel, France
"Thank you for the wonderful experience of Heimtextil India and the warm welcome we got as overses exhibitors. I definitely liked the concept of the fair and was pleased with the interest of Indian companies in my designs. I also appreciated the excellent signage''s of the fair along the highways, which gave a true international feeling of the show. The fair was very serious yet it had a comfortable, positive atmosphere with excellent services and great air conditioning."
Mr. Namo Nam, Gyeong Woo Company , Korea
"We were very pleased to be a part of Heimtextil India, as we were looking at the huge and expanding Indian consumer market. The kind of response we got for our products was so overwhelming, that we will be a part of this show every year. The reaction of the Indian as well as the overseas textile community at this fair was 100% more than we expected."
Mr. Phil Emends, Weizmann, Qulitex, U.K
"Early''s of Whitney was established in 1669 and hold the royal warrant as supplier of merino wool blankets to Her Majesty the Queen. Weizmann Limited are delighted to be associated with the Heimtextil India exhibition in Mumbai. As the sole distributor of Early''s of Whitney products in India, we were well and truly astounded at the response from the visitors both from India and abroad. We never expected such a fabulous turn out of serious buyers. We want to place on record our sincere appreciation for the efficient and impressive management of the fair making it a grand success!"
Altaf Gul Muhammed, Yunus Textile Mills, Karachi, Pakistan
"This is the first time we have participated in a show in India, and we were very glad that we took this opportunity. We are a major participant at Heimtextil in Frankfurt, and we never expected the kind of response we got in India. It was a great experience. We came into contact with so many Indian customers, that we have lost count. Indian manufacturers and importers were very impressed with our collection. We definitely hope to be here next year and stay for many more years to come. Opportunities such as this would always add to the ongoing efforts of both the Indian and Pakistani governments to strengthen our economic and cultural relations. Heimtextil India has added a new chapter in the building of close relations between India & Pakistan. Congratulations Messe Frankfurt India for making that happen!"
Mr.Subodh Sapra, Reliance Industries, Mumbai
"Heimtextil India has grown in leaps and bounds in quality and stature since it started five years ago and the move to Mumbai was perfect. For Reliance it has been an excellent participation and we met almost every segment we wanted to meet..be it domestic or international. Well done Messe Frankfurt!"
Mr.Lokesh, Authenticity, Bangalore, India
"I mainly came to meet customers from the Middle East markets and I can say with full confidence that these expectations were fully met. I had very good contacts with Middle East buyers. It is a fact that buyers from the Middle East now prefer to come to India to source their requirements. I have been participating in this fair for two years now and what I noticed in this event is that we met very serious new contacts instead of meeting existing buyers. Excellent show by an excellent organizer!"
Ms.Cathy Tan, Foshan Tenai Home Textile Industry Co Ltd, China.
"The fair was absolutely great for us. India is a fantastic market for us and we will be back".
Visitor comments
Mariano Miguel Martinez, Buying agent, Argentina "I am a regular visitor at Heimtextil Frankfurt and I found Heimtextil India to be an excellent representation of the parent brand. I did a tremendous amount of business at the show. The products on display were superlative and well displayed with clear transparency of products. The excellent quality of the participating companies was absolutely fantastic and I will return next year".
Jaime Quetglas Tortosa, Mora, Spain
"We will surely be back next year and hope to see many more companies join up as participants judging by the extremely high levels of business discussions we saw everyone having. The fair has been a truly international experience and we are very pleased that we came."
Mr. Spyrantis Dimitros, D & L Carpet, Greece
"We were amazed by the variety and high quality of products available at Heimtextil India. Our buying agenda was overflowing and we will be back for more!"
Mr. Suresh Ruia, Beamfeature Ltd , Manchester, U.K.
"I have a very large distribution facility back home, and I must say I am totally impressed with Heimtextil India in Mumbai. I had brought along quite a few of my customers from the UK and all of them were extremely pleased to see how large the Indian market is and how much there is to source from India in this sector. The dates were also extremely well chosen as this allowed us to continue to the Canton fair in China."
Mr.Bilal M.A.Kamal, Kamal Trading Agencies, Jordan
"This is my first visit to Heimtextil India and you can expect us back every year in the future as a regular buyer. The entire fair exceeded my expectations in terms of organisation, quality of products and the extremely professional way in which business was conducted at the fair."
Mr.P.F.Ayxela, Sati Group, Spain
"A very impressive fair in a most interesting sourcing country. I am convinced that this fair will lead the way for buyers from every country."
Ms.Daniela Pirastru, Marazzi Gruppo Ceramiche, Italy
"I was very surprised to see the extremely high quality of this fair. The product sectors were very well laid out that it made sourcing easy. This is one of the best fairs we saw in India."
Anne Descamps, Chef de Group Achat, BHV, France
"We were very impressed with this fair as it gave us a perfect picture of the extremely high quality coming out of India. We found many interesting companies and products".
Dong Hwan Cho, President, Iris Home Collection, Korea
"We represent many global brands like Paco Rabbane, Paris and others, and we were taken aback at the wonderful collections we saw at Heimtextil India. We are very positive that we will do business with many of them." |
浙公网安33010602010414
