Indian customers are keen to participate in ecological & economical technologies
Switzerland based, SSM Textile Machinery is one of the leading manufacturers of yarn processing and precision winding. Ernesto A Maurer, chairman, SSM exchanges his views on FTA and shares his perspective on the recently concluded India ITME.
What are your expectations from the ongoing show?
I am convinced that India is a very important market for all of us. We expect to reinforce our close contacts with the Indian textile industry, as we always have. It was important for us to come to India ITME specially this year since ITMA Asia did not witness many Indians. Virtually nobody from India went to ITMA Asia due to the close temporal vicinity of course. If there are two shows that are just 6 weeks apart and if you have one in your own country, that's primarily why the turnout was less at ITMA Asia. Secondly the recent situation in China was not very easy. We wanted to pick up what we weren't able to in Shanghai and this was fulfilled.
If I look at my statistics, 94 per cent of the visitors were Indians. The risky doubter of the Chinese market, India has gained the importance. India is a more quality minded market and quality driven industry too. Therefore the presence of Swiss textile machinery is good in India.
So our expectations have been met. Having a show just barely one year of ITMA Europe, you definitely don't show any blasting new developments. When you walk through the show here, you see interesting high quality machines but the new developments are mostly reserved for ITMA Europe.
Do you think that the recent demonatisation has affected the response that you have got here?
I was part of a conference yesterday where we discussed the subject of demonitisation. It will have a big impact. In fact according to me, India is reacting very well to it and even the medium scaled companies, who have been badly hurt, see the necessity and importance. This is the indication of having a very mature way of supporting the state of India.
I am sure that India will recover soon, maybe not as fast as the government says it will. The last prediction was it will take about a quarter to recover. But I see the recovery more in the range of 2 to 3 quarters; again if everything is fine for the next one year. It will affect but as they say in business you need to have haircut if one wants to make it grow again. It's amazing that lot of companies, executives, owners whom I have spoken to see this as an opportunity and not a hurdle. But some have suffered badly.
But these are short lift problems. The smaller enterprises down South, like those in Coimbatore and Bangalore, will recover very fast. The bigger companies of North are not much affected. Those who will be affected are the medium sized enterprises in India. In Northern India, I have 10 customers which mean 1000 machines for us, in the South I have 1000 customers that is 10 machines, so I think it depends on the size.
There have been talks about a Free Trade Agreement with the EU, what are your thought on it?
This is a very important agreement. I gave a speech yesterday where I said nationalism and trade barrier are in style right now, we only talked about the US though. But whilst everybody builds trade barriers many people don't realise that trade barriers work both ways. Countries always think if we make trade barriers by imposing high import duty, then their industry will be safe. But they don't understand that they cannot export anymore. So we have to make free trade agreements as much as possible. I am a strong believer that FTA create jobs.
What kind of latest technologies and solutions are Indian customers looking for?
I think India is really moving towards more ecological and economical solutions. We were recently in Ludhiana, and visited big players like Vardhman and Nahar. The plants of these textile companies exceeded the ecological standards of many in the world. All equipped with excellent technology, standards, and ecological balance. Indian customers are keen to participate in ecological and economical technology of the world and this is what we are trying to supply them with.
How big do you think is the market for your products in India?
We are among the top competitors in our worldwide market. India is moving in the same direction. India has always been an important market for us and has had high demand for our products. High ranking executives from some of the leading companies in India have visited our booth here. So the market expectations I have are definitely among the highest.
If you are to summarise your whole experience so far here at the fair, what would you have to say?
It was a good trade show. We built many important contacts here. We were able to conclude significant number of contracts. For SSM, 2016 has been the best year ever and what we were able to conclude here in Mumbai really reflects the same way. It was in line with the entire year.
What would you expect in the next edition of India ITME ?
Make the event shorter. I think the show would gain from that. Four-day event is the perfect time. This way you can also make senior executives stay for the entire 4 days. Just yesterday the CEO left and I will finish the show as the chairman. If it were 4 days, either I could stay full time or he could stay for full time. I talked to my colleagues who are from other companies, Uster for instance, the whole management left yesterday.
The first few days were slow, that is when the top executives of companies were present at the show. But now when the show is picking up, they had to leave. It's out of tact and can be avoided.
Also, timing India ITME in between major shows like the ITMAS in Europe could help companies position themselves at the right spot, right time, and at the same time bring in all the innovations. This will benefit the exhibitors, visitors, and the quality of the show.
Which are your biggest markets apart from India?
It really depends on the product. For synthetics- chemical fibres it's Taiwan. Taiwan is the market leader in synthetics whereas India is improving a lot. For cotton fabrics, I would say the closest one to match would be Bangladesh.
Any emerging markets that you are planning to explore?
Always! Vietnam and Ethiopia might be the next two countries. Burma does not have the infrastructure yet. Burma needs some more time.
How would you describe the technologies being used in India versus its contemporaries like Bangladesh?
Basically can repeat what I said in my second question because India is really moving into the ecological and economical high-end. We said that you are among the best in the world.
Which trade fairs are you planning to participate next year?
There are no big exhibitions happening next year. But we will be there at Techtextil in Germany.
Published on: 12/01/2017
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
