ITME: Meet Indian and African Businessmen in Textile
250 African entrepreneurs from the textile and clothing sector have met online with Indian entrepreneurs through ITME
05.12.2021. – On April 23 and 24 ITC (International Trade Center)It is an agency of the United Nations and the World Health Organization Textile exchange In cooperation with ITME (India International Textile Machinery Fairs).
TextileExchange is a professional fair – this time virtual – in which textile entrepreneurs from India and East Africa are looking for partners and business opportunities. It is part of SITA (Indian Trade and Investment Support to Africa), a project funded by the British FCDO.
Hari Shankar, ITME President, delivered the opening lecture, introducing his vision for the meeting. This platform allows buyers and sellers to interact for the benefit of their own business activities. Celebrating it allows you to create long-term business relationships.
250 businessmen from Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda participated in it, and they held more than 700 meetings between companies. Presentations were about machinery, fibers, yarns, fabrics, trimmings, and accessories.
A service in times of a pandemic
Govind Vinobrasad, SITA Coordinator, explained the reasons for the meeting. The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions have restricted business contacts and hurt businesses. We will overcome all difficulties and soon what we celebrate today will be just a memory from the past. Meanwhile, SITA is trying to bridge this gap with this meeting for the Indian and East African textile sectors.
On the first day, the participants heard from international experts who spoke, for example, about access to finance and import rules, which are the main difficulties for African companies.
Kanzire Theobest, President of AMG (Apparel Manufacturing Group) in Rwanda, highlighted the financing problem. Then SITA’s Anda Valla announced its launch Funding guideThis will help companies communicate with financial institutions.
75% of the African delegates were women. For this reason, Sheena Frida, of the Kenya Fashion Council, emphasized interest in the meeting as the sector has been significantly affected by the epidemic.
+ Information: https://itme2021.india-itme.com/
“Award-winning zombie scholar. Music practitioner. Food expert. Troublemaker.”