No: CLE/EXH/Fashion Access/Oct /2015
July 11, 2016

To:
All Members
Council for Leather Exports

Dear Sirs,
Sub: Inviting Participation in the Fashion Access Fair – Hong Kong, September 22-24, 2016 under MDA Funding:

About the Fair:

APLF Ltd organizes the Fashion Access fair for Finished Products, dedicated to Bags, Footwear Leather Garments & Fashion Accessories twice a year, once in October and again during end-March. The Fashion Access Fair is regarded as one of the key International Events dedicated to Bags, Footwear Leather Garments & Fashion Accessories in Asia.

Fashion Access Fair-
Hong Kong is one of the fast-growing international leather products fairs and has become a must-attend international fashion fair for high quality, practical bags, footwear, plus small leather goods, lifestyle accessories, apparels and more. With the event being located in an important global trading centre ie Hong Kong, both exhibitors & buyers gain instant access to one of the largest sourcing hubs in the world. Many Chinese companies & Stores also visit the Fair, and hence this event presents an opportunity to exhibitors to establish mutually beneficial business contacts and partnerships.

Report on Oct’ 2015 Edition of Fashion Access Fair –
The October 2015 edition of the Fashion Access fair was attended by a host of trade buyers from 58 countries and regions with top 10 representing countries from Hong Kong, China, Japan, USA Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Russian Federation, Italy and Singapore. In this edition, the fair featured over 200 companies from 21 countries and regions, with over 70 new comers from Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. There were 9 group pavilions from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Philipines, Singapore, Taiwan and Korea. Bags continued to be the Fairs’ main attraction, covering approximately 51% of the exhibits and 23% on footwear. The footwear sector, however, has increased in the past few years and has become a consistently strong performer.

Display Products in the Fair, include Bags, Footwear, Fashion Accessories, Leather Garments, Small Leather Goods, Lifestyle Products and Travel wares.

About the Hong Kong Market:

Hong Kong is becoming a significant market for leather & leather products with its imports increasing from US $ 10066 million in 2010-11 to US$ 11550 million in 2014-15. India’s export of leather & leather products to Hong Kong has increased from US$ 325 million in 2010-11 to US$ 422 million in 2014-15, growing at a CAGR of 6.75%.
Most importantly, Hong Kong has been an important trading center for several decades and is a city in which the Buying Offices of leading Global Brands are located. Hong Kong is of course the main gateway to mainland China.
CLE Participation in Fashion Access Fair, September 2016 under MDA Funding : As per the positive feedback received from the Council’s Member participants in the previous March 2016 edition of Fashion Access-Hong Kong, the Council has proposed to organize Group Participation of member-exporters in the Fashion Access Fair, September 22-24, 2016 to be held at Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong

Participation Costs for CLE Members- Considering the Cost of Space , Display Accessories, and other compulsory charges, the Cost of Participation for a 9 sq m Stand works out to Rs.3,50,000/- The Council had approached the Dept of Commerce to provide necessary funding support to organize participation in Fashion Access Fair, Hong Kong, September 2016 edition under the Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme of the Govt. of India submitted to DOC for approval. The approval from the DOC is awaited.

MDA Funding Support –
The Council has included the Fashion Access Fair, Hong Kong, September 2016 in the CLE’s MDA Annual Action Plan 2016-17 and submitted the same to the Department of Commerce, for which approval is awaited. In the event of approval being received from the Department of Commerce, members participating in this fair (whose Export Turnover during 2015-16 is more than Rs. 3 lakhs and less than Rs. 30 Crores) will be eligible to claim MDA Grant of a maximum of Rs. 2,00,000/- on Stand Charges plus air fare in economy excursion class subject to fulfillment of other MDA eligibility criteria as per MDA norms. For detailed MDA Guidelines, members may refer the MDA section in the website of the Council www.leatherindia.org . MDA intimation application should be received by the Council by giving minimum 14 days advance notice excluding date of receipt of application in the Council and date of departure from the Country. CLE will participate in the Fashion Access Fair, Hong Kong, September 2016 only if minimum 10 exhibitors confirm participation.

You may please note all the above, and send your Application Form along with estimated Participation Charges of Rs. 350,000/- for a 9 sq m booth to the Council’s Head Office or Regional Offices on or before July 31 2016

The Participation Charges for Booths of different sizes is as follows:

Booth Size	Participation Charges
9sq Mt. Booth-	Rs. 3,50,000
12 sq Mt. Booth	Rs.4,60,000
15 sq Mt. Booth	Rs.5,70,000
18 sq Mt. Booth	Rs. 6,80,000

Stand Allotments in Fashion Access, Fair – It may kindly be noted that Stands to individual participating companies are allocated by the Fashion Access Fair organizer themselves, considering the size & dimensions of stands, Hall layout & other technical aspects. Hence, Stand Allotments will not be done by the Council in Fashion Access Fair.

Member-exporters who are interested to participate in the Fashion Access Fair, September 2016 are requested to send the duly filled-in Application Form along with the full Participation Charges by Cheque/DD drawn in favor of Council for Leather Exports. This may be sent to either the Council’s Head office in Chennai or Regional Offices on or before July 31, 2016.

With best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
R.Ramesh Kumar, IAS
Executive Director

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