The second ITMA Asia + CITME 2010 exhibition held during June 22-26 in Shanghai really reinforced the power of the Chinese vibrant economy in general and the booming textile business in particular. The show, covering one lakh sq. metres, surpassed all expectations in terms of participation from both the domestic and overseas textile majors, despite global economic challenges.
A total of 1,171 exhibitors from 28 countries and regions showcased a wide array of solutions with visitorship of around one lakh during the five-day exhibition. These numbers further attested the combined strength of the ITMA Asia and CITME brands, making the combined show Asia’s most important textile machinery event in terms of exhibiting space and technology, according to the show owners.
Mr. Edward Roberts, CEMATEX President, observed: “We are extremely pleased that ITMA Asia + CITME is able to attract such a sizeable participation at a time when the global economy is still facing uncertainties. It is satisfying to note that we continue to attract a good representation from the world’s most established textile machinery makers, as well as new names offering a diverse range of solutions to the industry.”
Mr. Wang Shutian, CTMA President, said: “The combined show has developed into a leading platform in this part of the world for textile machinery makers to meet Chinese and other Asian buyers. Although business conditions are still challenging, we are very delighted with the response, particularly from Asian participants.”
China fielded the biggest number of participants – 639 exhibitors. The Chinese exhibitors occupied 31,000 sq. metres of net exhibit space. In terms of Asian participation, China Taiwan was the next biggest group, with 57 exhibitors taking up over 3,500 sq. metres of net space. Japan, the show’s Special Partner Country, occupied over 3,300 sq. metres.
Among the European participants, Germany took the largest exhibition space of over 5,000 sq. metres net, followed by Italy with more than 4,000 sq. metres and Switzerland with 2,500 sq. metres.
As far as India is concerned, there were as many as 27 companies that participated in the show, with the leading brands like LMW, LRT, Simta, Vetal, Textech, Precitex, etc. However, LMW was of course the biggest exhibitor, showcasing several new innovative products.
By product categories, spinning was the largest sector, occupying 17,000 sq. metres of net exhibit space. Dyeing, finishing and printing machinery formed the next biggest group, with over 11,700 sq. metres, followed by knitting with 10,300 sq. metres and weaving 9,300 sq. metres.
The combined show featured the traditional ITMA rules whereby only manufacturers of textile machinery and accessories are qualified to take part in the exhibition. Further, all the exhibitors are expected to display only their original equipment on their stand. To ensure strict adherence to this regulation, an on-site office was opened to handle Intellectual Property Rights issues.
At the ITMA Asia + CITME press conference, the show owners announced their collaboration for a third combined show in June 2012 and signed the agreement to that effect.
ITMA Asia + CITME 2010 is jointly owned by the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers (CEMATEX) and its partners in China – the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT (CCPIT-Tex), China Textile Machinery Association (CTMA) and the China Exhibition Centre Group Corporation (CIEC).
ITMA Asia + CITME 2010 was organised by Beijing Textile Machinery International Exhibition Co. Ltd. and co-organised by MP International Pte Ltd., in partnership with the Japan Textile Machinery Association. It has the support of the world’s major textile machinery associations, including the 9 member associations of CEMATEX (ACIMIT, AMEC AMTEX, BTMA, GTM, SYMATEX, SWISSMEM, TMAS, UCMTF, VDMA), American Textile Machinery Association (ATMA), Korea Textile Machinery Association (KOTMA) and the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI).
As usual, The Textile Magazine published by Gopali & Co., Chennai, top of the list of media partners at ITMA Asia 2010.
Why India lags behind ?
As the second super textile power in Asia, next only to China, why India, with its enormous textile technological resources, fails to be a venue for ITMA Asia? Both the Indian Government and the textile machinery industry should ponder over the issue and come up with a right solution to it to prove the country’s traditional strength and reputation in textiles.
While all the textile machinery associations in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the US, the UK, China, Japan, Taiwan, etc., take active interest and get full representation in CEMATEX, India’s show is negligibly poor with absolutely no representation. All the leading textile machinery associations in India like TMMA, ITME Society, etc., should take more active interest in the development of both Indian textile and machinery industries and come forward to assert their place in the mighty European as well as Asian shows. The earlier an initiative is taken in this direction, the better. Otherwise, before long, India will fall behind all its rivals in the field, given the highly competitive global environment.