ITMA in Milan: Italy consulate holds briefing for textile companies

Karachi: Under the patronage of the Consulate of Italy in Karachi, a presentation was organised for the textile industry to brief them on the forthcoming event ITMA 2023, which will be held in Milan from 8-14 June, 2023.

The chief guest for the event was Consul General of Italy Danilo Giurdanella, who spoke on Italy’s excellence in innovation and constant R&D in the sector makes Italy a market leader.

ITMA is the largest textile exhibition held every four years. ITMA 2023 aims to highlight innovations that will help textile and garment manufacturers transform and grow their business.

President Association of Italian Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT) Alex Zucchi welcomed the audience on behalf of the ACIMIT and invited Eileen Ng, Deputy project Director, ITMA Services to talk about the upcoming exhibition and the impact of digitalisation and sustainability for the Pakistan Textile Manufacturing Industry.

The exhibition will feature over 1,600 exhibitors from 44 countries and a list of 100 companies is still waiting to be allocated space in their preferred sectors. There are around 20 product sectors covering the entire textile and garment manufacturing value chain, including textile composites.

ITMA 2023 will be accompanied by several activities spotlighting industry innovation. The event aims to highlight automation and digital future, advanced materials, sustainability and circularity, and innovative technologies.

Aarij Iqbal, President of Italian Development Committee (IDC), Italian Chamber in Pakistan apprised the audience on the role of IDC, together with the support of the Consulate of Italy in Karachi have dedicated channel for facilitating ITMA 2023 visitors.

The Consulate has been supportive in recognising that the textile sector is the largest exporting sector of Pakistan and works very closely with Italy. Both countries complement each other to grow and expand their businesses. Hence, it is important to facilitate Pakistani business houses to participate in ITMA 2023 being held in Milan.

Sohail Tabba, Founding member of IDC and Chairman Lucky Core Industries was invited on stage to talk about the Pakistan textile industry and the way forward.

The exports of Italian textile machines accounts for Asia (42%), followed by Extra EU (20%) and European Union (19%). The value of Italian production in 2021 was Euro 2.4 billion, with exports worth Euro 2 billion. The process of internationalization and the vocation for innovation allows Italian companies to consolidate and further improve the leading position of Italy in the world textile machinery industry.

Textile is a key sector between Italy and Pakistan. In order to support the textile businesses in Pakistan, the Consulate has worked out a special arrangement together with Italian Development Committee to facilitate ITMA visitors to participate in the exhibition.