The Reverse Buyer Seller Meet for Textile and Apparel sector organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce was held for the first time in Kolkata, in parallel to Garknit-X exhibition, under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. More than 50 foreign buyers from textile and apparel sector visited the city from more than 19 different countries from various parts of globe such as Australia, Chile, China, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Rwanda, Poland, Palestine, Myanmar, Morocco, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE etc.
The event was organised to explore the strengths and potentials for export of Textile & Apparel from the Eastern India. The meet facilitated textile & apparel units from Eastern India, which are mainly in the MSME segment, to interact with overseas buyers for sourcing, establishing marketing tie-ups and exploring business collaborations and joint venture agreements. More than 125 sellers from India also participated in the meet. The programme was well supported by the Karnataka Government and also there were about 20 SHGs supported by the Department of Self Help Group Government of West Bengal. Talking about Karnataka Textile Policy Upendra Pratap Singh, IFS, Commissioner for Textile and Director of Handlooms and Textiles, Govt. of Karnataka, said that the new policy has potential to attract Rs 10,000 cr and provide employment opportunity of 5 lakh people. He said many varieties of sarees have obtained Geographical Indication (GI) namely Ilkal Sarees, Mysore Silk Sarees, Udupi Cotton Sarees and Karnataka Kasuti Sarees.
H.E. Sulton Rahim Zoda, Ambassador, the Republic of Tajikistan to India and H.E. Baraka Haran Luvanda, High Commissioner, United Republic of Tanzania also graced the occasion and talked about trade potential between their countries and India. Chaitali Das, Social Entrepreneur & Mg. Trustee, Rakshak Foundation talked about the benefit of using jute products. Previously Vikash Agarwal, Sr. Vice President, ICC gave the welcome address. Sanjay Jain, Chairman, ICC National Expert Committee on Textiles said that apparel industry in Bengal is presently supplying to domestic market because most of the units are MSME in nature.
According to Sanjay Jain, “For this event, we have invited 50 international buyers from more than 20 countries to Kolkata. This is for the first time we have given hotel and travel expenses to these buyers. We expect that due to these efforts MSME sector will benefit because they can’t afford going abroad to meet buyers. So, it’s a reverse meet when buyers are coming to their doorstep and exhibitors can show them their production capacity and I hope they will be able to build up new business relationships due to this meet. This is the first step in making West Bengal an export hub. The State is having one of the oldest in textiles history of India.
But due to reasons we were not much active in international markets but we hope this event will take us to a different orbit. This is the first step and credit goes to Hon’ble Minister of Finance Amit Mitra who encouraged us to go for it. This will run in parallel to Garknit-X Kolkata exhibition.” Dr. Rajeev Singh, Director General, Indian Chamber of Commerce gave the formal Vote of Thanks. Sadhan Pande, Hon’ble Minister, Consumer Affairs Department, Government of West Bengal inaugurated an exhibition with the stalls of concerned stakeholders was also setup displaying the products and their activities. The exhibition had also 20 SHGs supported by the Government of West Bengal.
Rural artisans of West Bengal produce diverse range of products and Buyers Sellers Meet can help them get the right price for their products, said Sadhan Pande, Hon’ble Minister, Consumer Affairs Department, Government of West Bengal. Bengal artisans are producers of world class products but needs to improve their quality of packaging opined Pandey while speaking at the inaugural session of Reverse Buyer Seller Meet for Textile & Apparel organised by Indian Chamber of Commerce. Other dignitaries present during the session were: H.E. Sulton Rahimzoda, Ambassador, the Republic of Tajikistan to India; H.E. Baraka Haran Luvanda, High Commissioner, United Republic of Tanzania; Upendra Pratap Singh, IFS, Commissioner for Textile and Director of Handlooms and Textiles, Govt. of Karnataka; Chaitali Das, Social Entrepreneur &Mg. Trustee, Rakshak Foundation; Vikash Agarwal, Sr. Vice President, ICC; Sanjay Jain, Chairman, ICC National Expert Committee on Textiles; Dr. Rajeev Singh, Director General, Indian Chamber of Commerce.
