After a three-year hiatus, Dhaka Int’l Textile and Garment Machinery Exhibition (DTG) returned as the largest textile and garment industry event in Bangladesh. DTG 2023 – held from 15-18 February 2023 at ICCB concurrently with DitaTex (Dhaka Int’l Textile and Apparel Accessories Exhibition) and DYECHEM (Dhaka Int’l Dyeing and Chemical Industry Exhibition) – brought together 1200 international companies from 35 countries and regions which occupied 1600 booths spread over 25,000 square metre space.
The 3-in-1 renowned exhibitions were jointly organised by BTMA (Bangladesh Textile Mills Association) and Yorkers Trade and Marketing Service Co., Ltd. The event saw five international pavilions – China, India, Korea, Taiwan and Turkey – that provided a one-stop platform for textile and garment production equipment, manufacturers and suppliers.
Opening Ceremony
A number of distinguished guests graced the opening ceremony with their presence – Salman F Rahman, Private Industry and Investment Adviser to Prime Minister; Md. Jashim Uddin, President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI); Mohammad Ali Khokon, President of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA); and Judy Wang, President of Yorkers Trade & Marketing Service Co., Ltd.
During the ceremony, Md Jashim Uddin commented, “Bangladesh has a target to export US $ 300 billion worth of merchandise by 2041. Innovative and sustainable garment items will help achieve the target.”
Mohammad Ali Khokon, President of the BTMA, thanked Bangladesh’s Government for taking measures for importing liquefied natural gas to deal with the energy crunch, while Judy Wang was extremely excited to see Bangladesh’s economic and infrastructure development are still positive despite facing the pandemic.
Technology extravaganza kept the visitors hooked
During the four days, key companies which participated included the likes of Truetzschler; Saurer; Itema; Picanol; Staubli; Karl Mayer; STOLL; Mayer & Cie; Pai Lung; Santoni; Groz-Beckert; Cixing; ACME; Fong’s Monforts; H&H; WFX; IMA Spa; Vibemac; Mimaki; Colorjet; FK Group; Navis Tubetex; and Terrot among many others.
According to the organisers, the four-day event witnessed over 37,060 visitors and most of them heaped high praises on the quantity and quality of exhibition and the products that were showcased there. The exhibition also extended to the series of innovation seminars that vibrantly captured opportunities in the local market and offered vital insights and analysis for the whole RMG supply chain. At the same time, it also reflected that the Bangladesh textile and garment market in the post-epidemic era is ready to welcome more lucrative business opportunities and favourable foreign investment.
Exhibitors unveiled their latest innovations in Bangladesh for the first time in four years
Technology companies from around the world showcased an array of technologies and new-age equipment of textile and garment industrial chains – spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing and garment manufacturing segments in DTG 2023. Since the event was organised for the first time after the last edition that took place in 2019, the excitement of the exhibitors was inevitable.
Navis Tubetex, a US-based leading provider of high technology finishing machinery to the global textile industry, has been dependent heavily on tubular finishing but the company had huge expectations from open width market this time around and the Bangladeshi market didn’t disappoint Navis. Since fabric manufacturing market is supposedly moving out of China to countries like Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, DTG 2023 proved to be a go-to platform for Navis Tubetex, that showcased its products in collaboration with its Bangladesh’s dealer Uni Asia, to lure textile manufacturers in Bangladesh.
“We relied on 100 per cent cotton or cotton polyester blend until now in this market but the trend is rapidly moving towards synthetics, cotton lycra, spandex and viscose fabrics. We are continuously monitoring market trends and expansions and we are making adjustments accordingly in those areas to cater to technology requirements of the factories and mills,” told Gary L. Morris, Sales Director (Asia-Pacific Region), Navis TubeTex to Team Resources (AR), adding, “We are promoting our Consultex spray system during DTG 2023 that has many applications in the country.”
Knitting was one area where many innovations were displayed in Dhaka both in circular knitting and flat knitting. Companies such as Stoll, Santoni, Terrot and Cixing were content with the visitation and response they received from the visitors.
“Stoll Bangladesh is a service and sale unit. Our intelligent machines do not require massive training to be operators; this is how we have intertwined technology and humans. Even an unskilled person, with a bit of training can operate our machines,” mentioned Michael Handel, Vice President (Sales and Service), Business Unit Stoll, Karl Mayer Stoll.
Ping Zhen, Area Sales Manager, Terrot mentioned that DTG 2023 is a platform for the company to showcase innovation that combines knitting and spinning together in one single process. “This is a unique concept and nobody else in the market has come up with such innovation yet. The prices may seem high at first but the textile companies, if machines are used in standard manner, can get payback (Return on Investment) in less than four years! All kinds of materials as well as recycled materials can be processed on this machine,” commented Zhen.
“Gross margins in the textile industry are too low! Many times, these margins restrict to just 3-4 per cent. Our system integrates into Circular Knitting Machines. The Smartex Core consists of a set of cameras, lights and sensors that are installed in the existing knitting division set-up. These advanced artificial intelligence vision give mills greater insights into their production and our real-time dashboard allows them to intuitively manage machines, even remotely,” averred Gilberto Lureiro, Co-Founder of Smartex – a Portuguese AI-based solution provider to eliminate waste at the source of the textile manufacturing chain. Gilberto was firm when he said, “We’re aiming to converse with those textile factories that have a clear and progressive mindset.”
DTG will be back on 1-4 February 2024 at the same venue – ICCB, Dhaka, to encourage the already thriving Bangladesh’s garment and textile industry.
Ramesh Anand, VP (Sales), WFX, told Team AR, “The show has a good visitation of garment manufacturers as well as textile manufacturers. Our purpose is to get exposure in this vibrant market. Investments are happening across product categories in knits and woven which is what we are monitoring. The good thing here in Bangladesh is that a lot of factories are open for investment in technology. We aim to add at least five Bangladesh factories in our clientele this year.”
“Our local subsidiary in Bangladesh IMA FAR EAST LTD has been actively marketing our newest developments in spreading, cutting and unloading equipment segments. IMA is eyeing the newly emerging and potential apparel manufacturing clusters in Bangladesh alongside targeting Dhaka and Chittagong! Our technology is unmatched when it comes to improving productivity, reducing fabric wastages and increasing speed to market. Bangladesh is THE market for us,” commented Mirella Sardini, President IMA s.p.a.
Sabbir Ahmed, Country Head, H&H Asia Group Ltd. said, “Buyers are continuously innovating their product baskets – thanks to changing consumers’ demand. We have a market share of around 40 per cent in Bangladesh in bonding technologies which is poised to grow substantially as we have an edge in this segment over other players in the country.”
DTG 2023 AT A GLANCE
