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Italian Firms To Exhibit Textile Machinery At The African Sourcing & Fashion Week

• By  Henry Dsouza
• September 19, 2017

An Italian textile machinery delegation will participate in the forthcoming African Sourcing & Fashion Week (ASFW), to be held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) from October 3 to 6, it has been announced.

Among these companies will exhibit at the Italian pavilion organised by the Italian Trade Agency are Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT) members like Autotex, Bianco, Carù, Corino, Europrogetti, Fadis, Ferraro, Lonati, Loptex, Mei, Mesdan, Reggiani, Ssm Giudici, Tonello, Ugolini and Willy.

In Ethiopia, the textile and garments sector represents the lion’s share of employment in the manufacturing sector. The Ethiopian government has launched a Growth & Transformation Plan for 2015-2020, to promote the industry and exploit several bilateral trade agreements signed with Western countries.

In this positive economic climate, the demand for machinery by local textile companies has grown significantly. Over the past five years, Italian exports to Ethiopia have increased on average by 14% annually. Their value in 2016 reached 3 million euros and in the January-May period, Italian sales were worth 1 million euros.

Due to the relevance of this market, ACIMIT and the Italian Trade Agency have set up an intensive programme to increase contacts between operators from the two countries, including institutional and commercial missions in the country as well as incoming missions of Ethiopian delegates in Italy.

Moreover, the ACIMIT has signed an MoU with the Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute in order to realise a textile technology centre.

Incidentally, ACIMIT represents Italy’s industrial sector comprising around 300 manufacturers (employing close to 12,000 people) and producing machinery for an overall value of about 2.7 billion euros, with exports amounting to more than 85% of total sales.

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