Islamabad October 26 2024: The 5th Textile and Leather Exhibition “TEXPO Pakistan 2024” concluded on Friday with signing of a number of MoUs and setting business deals worth over $900 million with foreign buyers.
The flagship event of the Ministry of Commerce of Pakistan, this year attracted 523 foreign buyers and importers from almost 60 countries including of non-traditional markets of South America and Africa while 270 exhibitors presented a variety of textile and leather products before the foreign as well as domestic visitors.
Texpo 24 will play a significant role in growth of textile exports in coming years as it would lead to setting up meaningful business contacts with diversified client, the Chief Executive Trade Development Authority of Pakistan Zubair Motiwala anticipated while speaking at a media briefing on the third and the final day of TEXPO 2024 along with Secretary Sheryar Taj at Expo Centre.
The TDAP chief said that 10 memoranda of understanding (MoU) have been finalized and deals worth over $ 910 million were successfully concluded so far while we are expecting some more business to be finalized.
“We were expecting that the quantum would be around $ 800 million but we are well ahead,” he said adding that it was a good experience to facilitate the visitors coming with a made-up mind of executing business agreements that reflects the confidence and trust foreign buyers have in Pakistan’s business potential.
For the first time, Texpo 2024 hosted delegates from countries of South America such as Columbia and Brazil as well as African countries including South Africa, East Africa and Ghana under a policy of attracting buyers from non-traditional markets, he informed and added, delegates from China, USA and EU also participated while the largest delegation was from the Netherlands who were here to take benefit of tax or duty reduction on Pakistani textile products in their country.
Motiwala informed that in the Texpo 2024, apparel, home textile, leather, footwear, bedding, knit wear, sports-wear and specialized clothing remained under focus while concept of “Waste to Worth”- converting waste and old cloths into yarn and then weave new fabric of that yarn- attracted a large number of visitors.
The TDAP Chief specially mentioned the guiding role of Federal Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan and said that his guidance and advice made the exhibition a success overall. He also thanked media for comprehensive coverage of the event.
Responding to a query he said that Chinese were transforming to high tech while they were also working on relocation of industries. He said ” we are discussing with them transfer of industry into Pakistan and we are hopeful for better outcomes”.
On another query, he said that Pakistan leveraged from demand and supply gap during Covid19 and attracted new buyers resulting in surge of textile export. “Even in post-Covid era we retained the buyers but we have to focus on quality, timeline and prices the three main determinants for finalizing a business deal besides compliance of mandatory guidelines regarding environmental sustainability and other requirements and obligations, enforced in the importing countries to enhance the exports.
He also underscored the critical role of competitiveness in business and said that “we have to win the price war by lowering cost of doing business in Pakistan.” He hoped that measures being taken by the government in energy sector as well as monetary policy easing will further improve the economic situation.
On the sidelines of the TEXPO 2024 that provided a dedicated B2B networking opportunity to foreign buyers and exhibitors, as many as 1969 specialized B2B meetings ensured that exhibitors had the opportunity to connect with the most relevant and interested buyers, maximizing the potential for successful business transactions.
Industrial visits were also arranged for foreign buyers on the third day to provide them valuable insights into Pakistan’s diverse industries and created opportunities for fruitful collaborations and according to the TDAP chief the response was very positive and encouraging.
TDAP, also hosted seminars and Texpo Talks on innovative themes of “Green Threads: Weaving Sustainability into Pakistan’s Textile and Leather Sectors; From Waste to Worth: Circular Innovations in Pakistan; and Smart Moves: Transforming SMEs into Green Powerhouses.”
