Federal Minister for Commerce Engr Khurram Dastgir Khan on Thursday inaugurated the four-day TEXPO 2016 at Karachi Expo Centre. Sri Lankan Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen was the Guest of Honour of the event. Following the inauguration, Dastgir along with Secretary Commerce, Azmat Ali Ranjha, Chief Executive TDAP, S M Muneer and Secretary TDAP, Rabiya Javeri Agha, held meetings with the delegations from France, China, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Netherlands, Vietnam, Spain and Germany.
Pakistan's leading textile brands like Gul Ahmed, Chen One, Sapphire, Shariq Textile, Shabbir Textile, Kohinoor, Global Apparel, Digital Dura Print, Surti International and Sitara Textile have set up customised stalls in Hall 2 of the Expo Centre. Fashion Council Pakistan along with the top designers like Farida Qureshi, Sanam Chaudhry, Zainab Chhotani, Amir Adnan, Shamail Ansari, Wardha Saleem, Shehla Chatoor and Zaheer Abbas are also showcasing their latest collections. Various trade associations of Pakistan have also set up their own customised stalls.
TDAP is facilitating the foreign buyers with services of interpreters in Chinese, Japanese, French, Arabic, German and Russian languages. Meetings were held between the representatives of local chambers and the delegates from Kazakhstan, China, Vietnam and France.
An Indonesian delegation held meetings with the exhibitors of footwear, tents and canvas and other textile products. While the buyers from Belgium showed interest in home textile products. Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and Pakistan Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong (PCCHK) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore market potential in Hong Kong and further improve the existing bilateral trade between the two countries.
The MoU was signed by KCCI President Younus Muhammad Bashir and PCCHK Vice-President Dr Ellen Lau. The President KCCI, Senior Vice-President KCCI Zia Ahmed Khan, Vice-President KCCI Muhammad Naeem Sharif and the KCCI Managing Committee members held meetings with delegates from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Spain, Portugal, and Kazakhstan. A five-member delegation from Hong Kong, which was led by Consul General of Pakistan in Hong Kong Ghufran Memon, expressed interest in building institutional linkages between the two countries.
The Indonesian delegation led by Vice-Chairman of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mufti Hamka, showed interest in enhancing trade ties with Pakistani businessmen and industrialists, particularly those associated with garment manufacturing, fashion industry, cotton fiber, synthetic fiber, bed sheets and cotton yarn. According to the officials of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), overall 230 companies have set up 320 stalls in four exhibition halls and over 450 foreign buyers/importers from around 60 countries are expected to visit the event.