The India-ITME Society has completed nine International textile machinery exhibitions (ITMEs) in India. The last exhibition held in December 2012 was one of the best ITMEs, surpassing all the previous editions in terms of number of exhibitors, visitors and infrastructure & facilities.
Having done this successfully once every four years, happening in the very next year after every ITMA in Europe, the India-ITME Society does not want to rest on laurels. The society has been toying with the idea of an exhibition in-between the four-year gap since 2011. It has firmed up a plan for the 1st Global Textile Technology & Engineering Show-2015 from 20-22 January 2015 at the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai.
Seema Srivastava, Executive Director of India-ITME Society, spoke to Samuel Joseph, Editor of The Indian Textile Journal, in an exclusive interview.
Excerpts:
Samuel Joseph (SJ): What is the objective of this new exhibition – GTTES-2015?
Seema Srivastava (SS): There has been a demand for another exhibition by India-ITME Society for a long time, since the four-year gap between India-ITMEs is quite long. Most of the India-ITME exhibitors have been sending feelers. For this new exhibition, we have kept the profile customised looking at the industry needs. This exhibition will help expand the network for the industry, especially in the Asian countries. Since the textile industry is booming in Asian countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, among many, GTTES will provide a fresh impetus to the business and trade communities in the textile industry.
SJ: Does this mean the focus will be on Asia?
SS: Yes, the focus will be on Asia including India, China, etc. where the textile technology has developed a lot. Europe has already many exhibitions across the world to display their machines. But with the market now moving to Asia, the technologies and machinery developed by the Asian companies should also get noticed. Hence this exhibition will strive to bring the Asian machinery and technologies for the textile industry into focus. We have done a lot of homework. We will be including garment machinery, yarns and related products, which are important for the textile industry in Asia.
SJ: How about the package for exhibitors?
SS: This maiden venture will have very affordable rates and will not be treated in par with India-ITME. This will give an opportunity for small units too, and since during the last ITME, we had a waiting list of over 300 companies, we will try to accommodate as many as possible in this exhibition. Hence we will be also having smaller stalls, and will concentrate on giving exposure to all small but important segments of the textile industry also. The minimum size of stalls being offered will be 9 sq m instead of 18 sq m for India-ITME stalls. This will be an incentive for smaller players to display their wares to the textile industry of Asia, who will be the visitors.
SJ: What are the advantages and plus points of this exhibition?
SS: Apart from making the exhibition to cater to the needs of all small segments in the textile industry, we are also making efforts to get some subsidy for the participants. Part of the exhibiting cost will be reimbursed. Some sort of sops are being worked out to encourage those who lost out at India-ITME but still are eager to showcase their products for the benefit of Asian textile industries.
SJ: What will be the size of the exhibition?
SS: We wanted the exhibition to be as big as possible. We will not put any constraints on partici