The Mauritius pavilion was the first thing visitors saw as they entered the exhibition hall at Source Africa 2013. Upon hearing of the planned Source Africa event last year, Enterprise Mauritius (EM) immediately booked this prime spot and set out to gather 40 Mauritian producers to showcase their skill and capacity to leading South African retailers such as Foschini, Woolworths, Ackerman, Pep, Mr Price, and Polo.
"Our strategy is to project Mauritius as a preferred sourcing destination for trade and business for the South African business community," explains Geerish Bucktowonsing, textile and apparel sector manager at EM, the national export promotion agency.
Kevin Burke, president and CEO of the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), which partnered with the Trade Hub for Source Africa 2013, recently remarked on the strong participation of African apparel and footwear companies at the MAGIC trade show in Las Vegas in February. This followed AAFA's 2012 Annual Executive Summit, where the former COO and senior vice president of Wal-Mart Global Procurement and CEO of the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textile and Apparel, Edwin Keh, pronounced that for the next ten years it seems certain that apparel sourcing solutions lie further and further afield in places like Africa.
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