Ambassador of Republic of Senegal Moustapha Diouf has called for strengthening the partnership between India and Senegal in the textile sector.
Speaking at the inaugural of the second edition of the two-day Global India Textile Show here on Saturday, he said the West African country gave importance to the textile sector. It was a cotton-growing country. However, cotton production was now declining and it was looking for assistance to improve the textile sector.
A 15-member delegation was here from Senegal to participate in the buyer-seller meet. “We believe we can develop partnership with the Indian textile exporters. This is an opportunity for us to get more assistance from India for capacity building,” he said.
He hoped the private textile sector here would help develop the textile sector in Senegal. He invited the Indian textile entrepreneurs to visit Senegal to strengthen the partnership between the two countries.
The buyer-seller meet at the CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex was organised by the Powerloom Development and Export Promotion Council and was supported by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industries under the Market Assistance Initiative. It had over 100 stalls by weavers from across the country, displaying fabrics and home textile products. About 100 buyers had come from the U.S., the U.K., Italy, Turkey, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Gambia, Syria, Sweden, and Malaysia.
Speaking at the inaugural, A. Sakthivel, President of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations and the Tirupur Exporters' Association, said the powerloom industry was strong in India. It supplied fabric for garments and made-ups exported to other countries. “We supply fabric to all international brands,” he said.
Consul General of India in Gambia, Ram Mohan, said the fair was an opportunity for India to become a major textile centre. Bharatkumar M. Chhajar, Chairman of the Council, said overseas buyers usually went to China to source their fabric needs. In five years, India would emerge as a major supplier of fabrics.
Pawan Kumar Jain, vice-chairman of the council, said Coimbatore was a major textile region in the country and the buyers would be able to source fabric at competitive prices here.
M.S. Mathivanan, Organising committee chairman, said buyers will interact directly with the fabric manufacturers here. Indian weavers had the ability to produce fabrics of good designs in smaller quantities too.
