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On March 19–22, 2019, the Russian Textile and Light Industry Week took place at the capital's Expocenter. This complex event is traditionally held at the beginning of the business season by the Russian Union of Textile and Light Industry Entrepreneurs (Soyuzlegprom) and the Expocentre Fairgrounds with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the RSPP.The partner of the event was Messe Frankfurt (Germany), one of the leading international companies for the organization and holding of international exhibition and fair forums. According to its exposition parameters, the subject of the Business Program, the number of participants and guests, the past "Week" has become the largest in all the years of its holding.

The agenda of the Week this year included a number of exhibition industry forums and an extensive Business Program. More than 2,000 specialists and experts participated in its events. At the same time, about 200 speakers – industry professionals held a series of thematic sessions, round tables, seminars, master classes.

The scale of this forum, which is so significant for the light industry, is also evidenced by the fact that such significant exhibitions and events as:

• «INLEGMASH» (Equipment for light industry);
• Techtextil Russia (Fiber-based materials, raw materials, products);
• «Intertkan-2019.Spring» (Fabrics and textile materials, clothing exhibition);
• "LIGHT INDUSTRY FORUM-2019" (6th International Forum of Light Industry).

The total number of participants, visitors and guests of the Week-2019 was about 15,000 people, its exhibition area is 20 thousand square meters. meters. Over 1,200 exhibitors from more than 20 countries were represented. For example, at the exhibition "Inlegmash-2019" a variety of products from 87 major manufacturers of textile equipment from 12 countries were presented.

The International Textile Trend Forum (Textile Expert Forum) was traditionally organized within the framework of the exhibition "Intertkan". Its co-organizers are Soyuzlegprom and Solstudio Textile Design. This is a professional design space organized by leading domestic and foreign designers and trend bureaus in partnership with fabric manufacturers and suppliers. The trend forum helps to quickly find the manufacturer they are interested in, since the name and stand of the company are indicated on each product sample. A special working area for business communication and mobile consultations in the format of trend excursions were also organized.

Important issues were highlighted in a speech at the opening ceremony of the "Week" of the State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation of Russia Viktor Yevtukhov. At the beginning of his speech, the Deputy Minister read out the greeting of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak to the participants and guests of the forum. V. Yevtukhov noted that the measures of state support being worked out jointly with Soyuzlegprom and, in general, with the business community prove their effectiveness. So, "in 2018, the index for textile production was 103.6%, the production of clothing was 104.1% compared to 2017. There are similar trends in a number of other sectors of the domestic light industry, and they have been observed since 2015-2016. This is a proper illustration of the fruitful joint work of the state and business.

Plus, "there is a positive trend in the direction of increasing access to foreign markets: exports of light industry products increased by 4.5% last year compared to 2017, amounting to $1.46 billion." The state, according to the State Secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, intends to expand support for enterprises developing the export direction. Moreover, the products of the Russian light industry are becoming more and more in demand abroad.

Andrey Razbrodin, president of Soyuzlegprom, agreed with Viktor Yevtukhov and noted that "already now, according to the technologies used and the quality of many types of end products, Russian manufacturers are successfully competing with the world's leading analogues."

A very important factor that largely determines the development of the Russian light industry, Elena Dybova, Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, noted in her speech: "Systematic state support of Russian entrepreneurs in this field is necessary. Moreover, about 90% of those employed in the light industry work at small and medium-sized enterprises in the industry.

Returning to the topic of organizing and holding the "Week", A. Razbrodin noted the "developing partnership of Soyuzlegprom with the leading German exhibition company "Messe Frankfurt". In addition, in February 2019, the Union and Messe Duesseldorf Moscow, the organizer of the Collection Premiere Moscow (CPM) exhibition, agreed on uniform dates for holding congress and exhibition events at the Expocenter. As a result, CPM and "INTERTANK" will be held on the same dates at the "Expocenter" from September 2019.

To be continued.

Author: A. Chichkin

Photo: Soyuzlegprom