The India International Garment Fair (IIGF), held from July 18 to 20 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, hosted 416 exhibitors from across the country. The garment fair was organised to provide Indian exporters an opportunity to exhibit their array of products to buyers from across the globe. More than 1,500 international buyers and 1,000 along with buying agents kept the atmosphere pulsating at the Fair during the three days.
The 57th IIGF was witness to a significant milestone with regard the industry’s foray into new markets. The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), India’s largest export promotion council signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tehran Garment Union (TGU). Incidentally, TGU is an influential manufacturers and retailers association with legislative power in terms of Garment Commercial affairs in Iran. As part of “Iranian Specialists Garment Committee and other advisory bodies, TGU provides policy consultation to the government.
Ashok G Rajani, Chairman of AEPC and Mohamad Javad Sedghamiz, Vice President of TGU signed the MoU on behalf of Indian and Iranian bodies respectively. The MoU would remain effective till July 18, 2017. Ajay Tamta, Minister of State (MoS) for Textile commented, the fair provided Indian exporters an opportunity to exhibit their products that meet the international quality and technology standards. He said that events like these give a boost to the ‘Make in India’ programme, as the platform encourages smaller player and new entrants to work towards making it a reality. The minister expressed hope exporters would focus on employment generation which is the real need of the hour.
While the AEPC, the largest Export Promotion Council, has over 8000 members for the promotion of apparel exports from India, TGU has nearly 20,000 members - all garment manufacturers, distributors and retailers in Tehran.
As per the Iranian guild system rules which have been approved by Parliament, Iranian business licenses are not issued by neither municipality nor government but by guild unions that are part of the private sector. In practice, no one has the possibility of producing or selling garment in Tehran without obtaining license and membership of TGU.
