India’s vast vaccine roll out plan has seen its Covid care centres doubling up as vaccination centres. One impact of this is that two co-locating tradefairs scheduled at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in March have now been pushed back in the calendar.
Organisers have been in discussion with the venue authorities and say they expect to announce new dates for the Mumbai editions of Gartex Texprocess India and Screen Print India.
With the rapid roll-out of Covid vaccines leading to a more upbeat business sentiment for 2021, one downside for the sector in India has been the temporary loss in March of some mega event facilities for tradefairs, such as NESCO (Bombay Exhibition Centre, in Goregaon). Organisers - Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India Pvt Ltd and MEX Exhibitions Pvt Ltd, have acted swiftly to reschedule the two shows mentioned.
Mr Raj Manek, executive director and board member, Messe Frankfurt Asia Holdings Ltd, said: “With positivity returning in the trade community amidst the positive news of the vaccine roll out, our goal ahead is clear - to create a safe and conducive environment for business exchange. We’re working in close co-operation with venue authorities and service providers on next steps to implement a comprehensive safety concept, under the ‘MFISafeConnect’ standards.”
Mr Gaurav Juneja, director, MEX Exhibitions Pvt Ltd added: “With the start of local vaccination drives and gradual scaling back of lockdown, we see confidence returning in the market. Gartex Texprocess India will be a catalyst in the recovery of trade momentum for this sector and its new hybrid format will go a step ahead to ensure onsite exhibitors can increase their product and brand exposure and match with potential clients through their digital presence. We are glad to have the support from the industry and our exhibitors whose interests are at the center of this decision; and our efforts are now focused on finalising the dates and meeting the safety imperatives.”
“As the Indian economy gears up for the ‘big business reset’, the exhibition industry is ready to provide a shot in the arm to businesses by bringing buyers and sellers back together to revive trade discussions.” added Mr Manek, noting that Gartex Texprocess India’s new hybrid format and its co-location with the premier fair for screen, textile, sublimation and digital printing technologies – Screen Print India, provided a platform to bring the entire textile value chain together.
The Delhi edition of the two fairs continue to be on schedule, 6–8 August 2021 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.
Further details: www.in.messefrankfurt.com
