IGATEX Pakistan Widens Reach

T
he 5th International Garment, Textile & Leather Machinery & Accessories
Exhibition (IGATEX Pakistan 2006) will take place April 26-29 at the Karachi Expo Centre in
Karachi, Pakistan. This year, the exhibition — billed as the largest exhibition of its kind in the
region — will return to its original single-show format. This is instead of following last year’s
split format, which offered textile machinery at one show, and garment and leather machinery and
accessories at another show staged nine days later at the same venue.

IGATEX Pakistan 2006’s exhibit profile lists the following exhibit categories:

•    apparel machinery and accessories including automation systems,
computer-aided design/computer-aided management/computer-integrated manufacturing systems, computer
software, dyeing and tanning chemicals, embroidery machinery and threads, garment accessories and
components, fabrics and leathers, sewing machinery and accessories, unit production systems,
finishing equipment, knives and scissors, and other machinery and accessories;

•    laundry equipment and accessories including dry-cleaning equipment;

•    leather machinery and accessories;

•    shoemaking machinery and accessories; and

•    textile machinery, accessories and fabrics including knitting machinery,
spinning machinery and accessories, weaving machinery and accessories, bleaching and washing
machinery, testing equipment and controls, heat-transfer equipment, textile screen-printing
machinery, yarn-processing machinery and accessories, and other machinery and accessories.

While it is targeted primarily to Pakistani textile and garment manufacturers,
IGATEX Pakistan also aims to attract attendees from South Asia and the Middle East. An exhibitor
survey conducted at last year’s show indicated the top five markets for sourcing for sourcing-trade
visitors and new contacts are Pakistan, Turkey, China, Bangladesh and India.

Among those expected to attend the exhibition are garment and textile accessories dealers,
machinery and accessories distributors and agents, and machinery importers and exporters; garment,
textile, knitting, leather goods and shoe manufacturers; and laundry operators and dry cleaners.

According to IGATEX Pakistan organizers, Pakistan-based Pegasus Consultancy (Pvt.) Ltd. and
Singapore-based Conference & Exhibition Management Services Pte. Ltd. (CEMS), the elimination
of quotas in 2005 has provided a challenge to the Pakistani textile and garment industry to
manufacture according to internationally accepted quality standards. The industry is answering this
challenge by investing in the latest technologies to improve and streamline production.

Pegasus and CEMS expect this year’s exhibition will exceed previous records for
exhibitor and visitor participation, which last year totaled 450 and 70,000, respectively.
Exhibitors came from 30 countries including Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Europe and North
America. The show’s exhibit area also has grown steadily, from 2,000 square meters (m2) at the
first IGATEX in 2002 to 18,000 m2 last year, when more than 300 different types of textile and
garment manufacturing machines were displayed. This year’s show will take up six exhibition halls
at the Karachi Expo Centre, including two new halls.

The exhibition’s growth reflects the rapid growth of the Pakistani textile and garment
industry, which over the past three years has spent more than $4 billion for balancing,
modernization and replacement (BMR) of machinery. The Government of Pakistan has allocated an
additional US$3 billion for future BMR and expansion of the textile sector. Last year, the industry
accounted for 67 percent of total Pakistani exports, which themselves have exhibited 20-percent
annual growth rates.

IGATEX Pakistan Partners And Supporters

As in 2004 and 2005, Turkey will be Pakistan’s partner country at IGATEX. Last year, more
than 40 Turkish companies exhibited — the greatest-ever single-country participation at the
exhibition, according to show organizers. The Turkish pavilion occupied an entire hall at the expo
center.

In addition to Turkey’s pavilion at IGATEX Pakistan 2006, nine other pavilions will host
companies from China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, Singapore and
Switzerland.

Beijing-based China Texmatech Co. Ltd. (CTMTC), a textile machinery and technology
import/export enterprise managed by the Chinese government, is IGATEX Pakistan’s strategic partner
for this year’s exhibition. CTMTC will organize the China pavilion.

Other international supporting organizations include the Spanish Textile Machinery
Association, the Italian Trade Commission, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery
Manufacturers (ACIMIT), the Austrian Trade Commission, the Singapore Textile Dealers Friendly
Association and International Enterprise Singapore.