INTERVIEW
“IGATEX Pakistan this year was the watershed event exceeding our expectations”
-Edward Liu, Managing Director, CEMS

Edward Liu

Mr. Edward Liu, Managing Director, CEMS, gave an exclusive interview to Pakistan Textile Journal at ITM Exhibition in Turkey during 1-6 June 2004. He talked about the success of recent IGATEX Pakistan held during April 2004. IGATEX Pakistan has seen a tremendous growth since its first edition and within the last three years it has evolved into a major textile machinery event in for leading textile and garment machinery manufacturers worldwide.

I think IGATEX Pakistan 2004 has come a long way from the first premier event in year 2002 with 600 square meters net exhibition area and even though due to circumstances out of control. We managed to put up an outstanding performance last year in 2003 with 2800 square meters of net exhibition space despite the SARS scare in South East Asia. This year 2004 was exceptionally good as we had area of 5500 square meters net. The exact size is yet to be calculated because there were some exhibitors who actually signed up on the day of the exhibition itself.
All this goes to show that the demand for textile technology exists in Pakistan. The demand is, of course, generated by the fact that many of your entrepreneurs/producers want to up-grade themselves to compete in the global market place. In January next year in 2005 many of the quotas will be abolished for the WTO countries. Garment and textile producing companies will really have to compete on quality, pricing and delivery. All will require good equipment that will meet the production criteria of the producers. It doesn't really matter if it is a Chinese machine or German or Italian or Turkish so long as the manufacturer produced a certain category of products and that the machinery which has been purchased serves that purpose.
Therefore, the show, IGATEX Pakistan, this year was the watershed in the sense that it really exceeded our own expectations. The show comprised five halls, four were permanent halls and we had to construct the temporary hall just to accommodate the overwhelming demand.
We would like to thank our partners, Pegasus Consultancy for helping organise this show and also the media for helping generate the awareness of the event, the participants who were very enthusiastic and last but not the least the garment and textile manufacturers themselves.
We have now decided that in view of the overwhelming response this year we need to house our valued participants in proper facilities that is to say that all four halls will be utilised and hall No.4 will be furnished with a new AC by September. We will utilise the four halls strictly for the textile machinery in the first instance in the first part of April, followed by another event for garment sewing machines and embroidery machines.
We are confident that we will have participation of more Turkish manufacturers that is why I am here. Mr. Mustafa Sener, President TEMSAD, has invited me to personally visit this exhibition and has promised to give us his full support. I am also expecting a larger participation from the Spanish manufacturers. They came to our show and were pleasantly surprised by the size of the exhibition and have informed my colleagues during the show that they are seriously contemplating taking part in our next edition. Then, of course, we will have the Chinese and the Taiwanese exhibitors and I am hoping that next year they will be able to form bigger pavilions. The Chinese have got the technology that is very price competitive and it is the technology which could be very useful for the Pakistani producers of textiles.
Last week I was in Pakistan for two other exhibitions. I also visited India and met deputy director of ITME India Society. I have given him a short presentation of the show and he has invited me to visit the show in December. As the relations improve between India and Pakistan more and more Indian exhibitors would be very enthusiastic to take part in our exhibition IGATEX.
I am invited by the President of TEMSAD Mr. Mustafa Sener to visit this exhibition (ITM) which is quite impressive in terms of the number of exhibitors and the area covered for a first edition. Leading companies from all over the world are participating in this show, making it a truly international event.