Page 9 - January-February-2021

08 09

Pakistan’s 1st

International

Virtual Textile

Exhibition

Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) The chief guests of the event were Mr Dawood,
decided to make the exhibition virtual due to the Secretary at Ministry of Commerce Sualeh
COVID-19 situation. The 1st International Virtual Faruqui and Chief Executive TDAP Arif Ahmed
Textile Exhibition (TEXPO) started on 1st to 5th Khan. The event was attended by designers and
February 2021. It remained operational 24/7 that fashion mavens alike, along with the textile giants
helped international visitors to explore the of the country. Dawood said that despite there
potential of Pakistan's Textile Industries and their being less action on the fashion front, Pakistan
diverse product portfolio irrespective of their time witnessed a growth in textile exports.
zone. The initiative was also supported by the
leading textile exporters, including Gul Ahmed, Aamer Khanzada, Managing Director of Pegasus
Interloop, Lucky Textile Mills, Chen One, Soorty Consultancy, said, "TDAP took the mammoth
Enterprises, Masood Textiles, and Bari Textile step of digitizing this prestigious and largest
Mills. display for textile products for the international
community. A total of 57 companies from
The virtual environment allowed visitors to locate high-end fashion apparel, ready-made garments,
and engage with exhibitors more quickly than home textiles, fabrics, and pandemic-relevant
they would in a physical environment. A few products like personal protective equipment:
mouse clicks were all it took for attendees to find masks and face coverings exhibited virtually."
their desired exhibitor and begin a conversation.
Started in 2016, TEXPO is the first of its kind to
The event went successful, and it was the venture into exhibitions' virtual arena. The focused
first-ever such initiative on the government level products were Home textiles, Apparel ready
to arrange a virtual exhibition for the most crucial made garments, Personal protective equipment,
sector of the country's exports. TDAP was Fabrics, etc.
established on 8th November 2006 under a
Presidential Ordinance, a successor organization The event boosted Pakistan's textile industry and
to the Export Promotion Bureau, established in its potential globally. Fifty-seven exhibitors visited
1963. It arranges awareness seminars and the TEXPO, and this year, TEXPO has captured
workshops to educate the Pakistani business new markets from Eastern Europe, Far East Asia,
community about the global markets' latest and the Central Asian Republic.
conditions and trends.

January/February 2021 January/February 2021