Australian International Sourcing Fair, Sydney, (November 22 –24, 2011)
Australia’s foreign trade scenario:
As per report titled Composition of Trade Australia 2010-11 brought out by Market Information and Research Section, Department of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government, among Australia’s top 25 imports, goods & services Furniture, mattresses & cushions occupies 16th place and imports during 2008-09 was A$ 2,840 million, 2009-10 was A$ 2,560 million and 2010-11 was A$ 2,674 million. Imports have registered growth of 4.5% during the period 2009-10 to 2010-11.
Australia’s top 10 import sources for trade in goods and services are China, United States, Japan, Singapore, Germany, Thailand, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Malaysia and Indonesia. India does not figure in the list of top 10 import sources. On the other hand, India occupies 4th place in the list of Australia’s top 10 export markets for trade in trade in goods and services. China was Australia’s largest individual two-way goods and services trading partner in 2010-11, accounting for 19.7 per cent ($113.3 billion) of total trade. Japan was the second largest trading partner accounting for 11.8 per cent ($67.7 billion) followed by the United States, accounting for 8.8 per cent ($50.6 billion). In 2010-11, Australia’s goods and services imports rose 7.1 per cent to $276.6 billion. Import volumes rose 10.4 per cent while import prices decreased 3.0 per cent. These data indicate that pertinent efforts are needed to increase India’s export to Australia.
India’s export to Australia:
India’s total Textile & Clothing Exports during 2010 were US$ 243 million and have registered growth of 21.5% over 2009 in which exports were US$ 200 million. During January-August 2011 exports were US$ 205 million and have registered growth of 41% over 2010 for the same period were exports were US$ 145 million.
Handloom products export to Australia:
As per DGCI&S, Kolkata data export of Handloom products to Australia stood at Rs.38,48,34,011 (US$ 8.55 million) during 2009-2010 and have registered growth of 16.66% during 2010–2011 in which exports were Rs.44,89,66,113 (US$ 9.97 million).
Council’s participation in Australian International Sourcing Fair, Sydney, Tuesday, November 22 – Thursday, November 24, 2011:
Council in order to explore the Australian market participated on an exploratory basis in the Australian International Sourcing Fair held at Sydney from Tuesday, November 22 to Thursday, November 24, 2011 under Marketing Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme of Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India.
Background of Australian International Sourcing Fair
TEXPROCIL in 2009 had pioneered marketing exploration activity in Australia by organising ‘Brand India’ Show, to provide a platform for buyers/importers and Indian exporters/manufacturers to meet up and transact business. Subsequently, Australia Exhibitions & Conferences (AEC) had organised Australian International Sourcing Fair in Melbourne in November 2010. During 2011, Australian International Sourcing Fair co-located with China Clothing and Textiles Expo was organised at Sydney for the first time. This fair focuses on providing a forum that will enable participants establish and consolidate business partnerships with international companies and learn about best practice in sourcing products from across the world. Collectively the fair brought together over 350 companies from across the world representing an exciting international collection of homewares, fashion, textiles and footwear.
Venue & Occupied Space: Sydney Exhibition Centre, New South Wales, Australia
Hall 5 - Australian International Sourcing Fair
Hall 4 - China Clothing & Textiles Expo
Gross Floor Space 5,000 square metres (sqm)- includes stands, aisles, seminar theatre and kiosk in Sourcing Fair only.
Net Floor Space: 1,800 square metres (sqm)- Allocated stand space in Sourcing Fair only.
As per the post fair report of Australia Exhibitions & Conferences, the Fair included over 167 exhibitors from 10 countries, representing a substantial growth on the inaugural Fair in Melbourne 2010. This year there were national pavilions from eight countries including Bangladesh -17, Fiji -9, India -60, Indonesia-4, Korea-6, Nepal-6, Pakistan-29 and Thailand -14. Other than Australia, private exhibitors from New Zealand, Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates and the USA also participated. Lefaso in Vietnam sent a visiting delegation. Exhibitors were segregated based on product index such as Childrens / Infantwear, Denim, Fabric/Finishes/Trims/Yarn, Fashion Accessories, Footwear, Handicrafts, Home Textiles, Homwares, Knitwear, Leather Apparel & Handbags, Leisurewear, Menswear, Natural Fibres/Jute/Silk, Outerwear, Scarves/Gloves/Eyewear, Sportswear/Sporting Goods, Streetwear, Trade Promotion, Uniforms / Workwear and Womenswear.
India participant contingent at the fair comprised the following:
Participating Textile Export Promotion Councils
• Apparel Export Promotion Council
• Coir Board
• Handloom Export Promotion Council
• Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts
• Indian Silk Export Promotion Council
• National Jute Board
• Wool & Woollens Export Promotion Council
• Wool Industry Export Promotion Council
Participating Government Bodies & Associations
• India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO)
• Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts)
Trade Visits
With the co-located CCCT Expo visitors had the opportunity to source from nearly 400 exhibitors. Despite solid visitor pre-registration figures of 4,387, final visitor numbers were down marginally on the 2010 result, with 2,600 visits. This can be attributed in large part to the extremely unusual weather conditions which saw torrential rain continue incessantly throughout the duration of the fair.
Visitor statistics reveal that the quality of the visitor base was again high and in conformance with the show proposition of attracting importers / wholesalers / manufacturers, rather than individual retailers. Over 60% of visitors in 2011 derived from the importers / wholesalers / manufacturers business type.
Tuesday 22 November-1,067 41%
Wednesday 23 November-673 26%
Thursday 24 November-860 33%
Total-2,600
Pre-Registration:
Pre-Registered Total-4,387
Pre-Registered Attended:
Tuesday 22 November-872
Wednesday 23 November-544
Thursday 24 November-662
Total-2,078
Onsite Registration:
Tuesday 22 November-195
Wednesday 23 November-129
Thursday 24 November-198
Onsite Registered: Total-522
Attendees from Australia – Total 1,678
Victoria-12%
New South Wales-77%
Queensland-7%
South Australia-1%
Western Australia-1%
Tasmania-0.3%
Australian Capital Territory-1%
Northern Territory-0.2%
Visitors from the following countries were represented: New Zealand, Bangladesh, Fiji, India, Nepal, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, France, China, Singapore, Taiwan, USA, Canada, Anguilla, Malaysia and Myanmar. International visitation increased significantly from the 2010 Fair. It is understood that many of these visitors were assessing the Fair for future participation as an exhibitor, meaning that an increase in exhibiting countries is expected for the 2012 Fair.
At the point of registration visitors were asked to select the type of business that they were representing at the Fair. The results show similarities between the 2011 Sydney Fair and the Fair in Melbourne in 2010, with the key target groups of importers / wholesalers / manufacturers remaining consistent at approximately 60% of the total group of visitors.
Visitor Areas of Interest:
Belts / Millinery-273
Bridal-118
Childrenswear-495
Couture & Special Occasion-158
Footwear-382
Furniture / Furnishings-226
Garment Accessories-38
Giftware-368
Handbags / Wallets-457
Homewares-388
Intimate apparel / Sleepwear-209
Jewellery-448
Manchester-175
Menswear-640
Scarves / Wraps / Gloves-406
Sports / Leisurewear-325
Street / Surf / Urbanwear-250
Swimwear-224
Textiles-551
Travel Goods-153
Womenswear-1126
Workwear / Uniforms-230
At the time of registration visitors were asked to indicate all product groups that were of interest to them. The individual product groups showing the highest levels of increase in interest level were Womenswear (7%), Homewares (5%) and Textiles (5%). The only product category to show a minor decrease was Belts/Millinery (-1%).
Major Retail Department Stores in attendance included Bed Bath ‘N’ Table, Carpets Galore
Floorworld, Colorado Group, Costco, Country Road, David Jones, Harris Scarfe, Just Group, Kmart, Myer, Sportsgirl, Target Australia and Woolworths.
Major Importers and Suppliers in attendance included Best & Less, Bisley Workwear, Blacki Ice
Group, Blue Illusion, City Beach Australia, Collette Dinnigan, Pacific Brands, Ripe Maternity Wear, Rivers Australia, RM Williams, Sass Clothing, Seafolly, Speedo, Spend-Less Shoes, The Tie Works, Trelise Cooper, Wheels & Dollbaby, Whitesands.
A total of eight seminars were conducted during the Fair. This included 2 local speakers and 6 international speakers. In total 700 people attended the Seminars over the 3 days. This represents a significant interest on the seminar participation in 2010 when 539 people attended 7 seminars.
Seminar 1 – Tuesday 22 November, 11am- Mr Siddhartha Rajagopal, Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council on “Indian Textiles: Opening doors in Innovation and Opportunity”- Attendance: 150
Seminar 2 – Tuesday 22 November , 1pm-Mr Tony Tao, Senior Manager, HM & Associates on
“Smart Sourcing from China”-Attendance: 265
Seminar 3 – Tuesday 22 November , 3pm- Mr Mark Halabe, Director, Mark One Apparel (Fiji) Pty Ltd on “The Benefits of Making it in Fiji”- Attendance: 60
Seminar 4 – Wednesday 23 November , 11am- Mr Paul Maloney, Paul Maloney Fashion Agency on “Source On-trend Fashion from Thailand”- Attendance: 45
Seminar 5 – Wednesday 23 November, 1pm-Mr Azam Mohammed, Consul General of Pakistan in Sydney on “Benefits of sourcing Textiles and Sporting Goods from Pakistan”-Attendance: 30
Seminar 6 – Wednesday 23 November , 3pm- His Excellency Lt General Masud Uddin Chowdhury, High Commissioner Bangladesh on “Update on Bangladesh: Global Supplier of Readymade Garments and Knitwear”- Attendance: 50
Seminar 7 – Thursday 24 November ,11am-Mr Rakesh Kumar, Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts in India on “How to Source Handcrafted Products from India”-Attendance: 50
Seminar 8 – Thursday 24 November ,1pm-Ms Hiti Kakani, Director, PHR Broking on “Strategies for Successful Sourcing”-Attendance: 50
Observations at the fair:
Shri.Amit Dasgupta, Consul, CGI, Sydney and Shri.Rao Palagumai, Trade Promotion Officer, CGI, Sydney visited the fair on all the three days. Consul, CGI, Sydney visited the Council’s stall and was impressed with the Handloom products - shawls, stole, duppatta of Bhagalpur Cluster and advised to bring in more samples to be displayed at the Council’s stall. Consul advised that Australian consumers like products with tribal motifs and with bold colours like red, orange, purple, turmeric etc. He suggested that weavers may be oriented on these lines and requested to come up with products suited to the Australian market. He pointed out that a mixture of Indian tribal designs and Australian aboriginal tribal designs may also be attempted.
H.E.Mrs.Sujatha Singh, High Commissioner of India, Canberra visited the fair on November 24, 2011 and held discussions with Indian contingents represented by AEPC, EPCH, HEPC, ITPO, MSME Officials, Texprocil along with Shri.Amit Dasgupta, Consul, CGI, Sydney and Shri.Rao Palagumai, Trade Promotion Officer, CGI, Sydney. She pointed that EPCs should evaluate the financial implication of holding stand alone events like “India Shows” vis-à-vis participating in an international fair held at the respective country and then arrive at a conclusion for effective promotion of “Brand India” in the global arena. Thereafter, High Commissioner visited stalls at the fair and advised craftsmen that products with Australian aboriginal designs imprinted on them would easily capture the attention of Australian consumers and help in penetrating the market. High Commissioner visited the Council’s stall and appreciated the Handloom samples of shawls, stole, duppatta of Bhagalpur Cluster and informed that such products have a good market in Australia and has observed that Australia is a good market for Handloom products.
On a visit to China Town (a retail market) at Sydney, Council’s official could see that Chinese products like bags and cushion covers imprinted with tribal motifs and aboriginal designs were displayed at the stores and liked by the customers.
Suggestions:
- It was observed that Texprocil had hired two hostesses to man their booth and offered free tea/coffee/snacks, water and (lunch for last two days) to Indian exhibitors at the fair. The financial implication may be ascertained and if feasible such facility may be extended to Council’s participants at relevant fairs.
- It is suggested that Council may consider the possibility of organising seminar to highlight the importance, uniqueness and benefits of sourcing Handwoven products from India at appropriate international fairs in which Council is scheduled to participate.
- While discussing with Shri.Rao Palagumai, Trade Promotion Officer, CGI, Sydney it was pointed out that the days of the fair (for e.g. if it is from Tuesday to Thursday in the last week of March) should be permanently fixed for all editions of the fair. As this will facilitate in easily positioning IIHF in the minds of buyers throughout the world and they would automatically know that during the fourth week of March every year IIHF fair would be held at Chennai, India. He pointed out that internationally fair dates are announced one year in advance and suggested that promotional activities of IIHF should commence at least one year in advance.
Conclusion:
The Council may consider participating in the next edition of Australian International Sourcing Fair to be held in 2012. Two factors that support this conclusion are, presently there are no established fairs in Australia for exporters to explore, penetrate and capture market share. Secondly, there is an imperative need on the part of exporters to look out for new markets and not to be dependent on the U.S. and E.U. ever since the recession of November 2008. It is observed that the Free Trade Agreements (FTA)/Preferential Trading Agreements (PTA)/Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements (CECA/CEPA) signed by the Government have resulted in increased exports. Moreover, new bilateral /regional trade pacts in the pipeline India-Australia, India-EU, India-Thailand, India-New Zealand, India-Canada, India-Indonesia are expected to boost India’s exports further.
Mr.S.Gurusaranaraj, Assistant, HEPC represented the Council at the fair.