Textile printing industry in the UAE is set to gather momentum with the country now standing as the world’s fourth largest trading centre of textiles, generating approximately $17.5 billion annually, the West Asian media has reported . The UAE can capitalise on the fast growing textile printing industry and the country has a huge potential to become one of the market leaders, chairman of International Expo Consults, Abdul Rahman Falaknaz has said. According to the Global Industry Analysts report, printed textiles market is projected to touch 29.8 billion square meters by 2020, due to the technology enhancements aimed at improving print speeds, design and efficiency. Screen printing continues to hold a major share of the global textile printing market, in terms of production volume of printed textiles. However, it is facing a strong competition due to the fast adoption of digital technology. “Growth in the coming years will surely be driven largely by the digital textile printing market. Manufacturing of high-quality inkjet print heads, presence of open system inkjet print heads that enable use of inks from multiple vendors, and launch of lower priced competitive solutions are expected to fast-track the adoption of digital printing technology”, Falaknaz said. Falaknaz added, “The textile printing industry is taking the fashion world by storm. New York Fashion Week recently featured a runway show parading pieces of clothing made of digitally printed textiles. As UAE is one of the most fashion forward places around the globe, we are sure to adapt this style–whether it’s for the fashion or the interior design industry. Digital printing gives freedom not just for designers but also for fashion enthusiasts as the latter can design their own prints and acquire a tangible version of it–whether it’s clothing, accessory, or even furniture”. SGI Dubai 2016 will include an exclusive textile printing focused pavilion called ‘SGI Textile’. This announcement will see the introduction of new technologies under two broad printing categories namely ‘technical fabric’ and ‘garment decoration’ alongside other major pavilions. “The textile sector is one of the largest trade segments of Dubai. The potential of the textile trade is enhanced with the construction of Dubai Textile City by Texmas, an association of textile merchants, and the upcoming Dubai Design District (D3) promises a new dimension to textiles business with a large number of new and established fashion designers in the region,” said Ashok Sawlani, former chairman and present Managing Committee member at Texmas.
