Variety of leather products woo visitors

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The different types of leather items are produced in Bangladesh and the market of leather goods is merely vast.

Industry insiders said the leather goods market in Bangladesh has huge potential with cheap labour, low production cost and option of raw material.

A wide variety of leather products were displayed at the “SME Fair 2020”. Twenty-eight leather enterprises participated in the fair that ended on Friday showing their potentials.

A number of entrepreneurs-both women and men-displayed popular leather items, including executive bags, backpacks, ladies' items, purses and wallets, shoes, slippers, cellular phone covers, laptop covers, and key rings.

THE TINY and Medium Enterprise Foundation, popularly referred to as the SME Foundation, organised the eighth edition of the SME Fair, with a view to promoting SME products and bringing local small and medium entrepreneurs under a single roof.  

The nine-day fair happened at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the administrative centre on March 4-13.

Shoppers enjoyed an array of discounts on buying leather products. Vendors were happy for the presence and response of shoppers, although footfall of shoppers dropped within the last couple of days of the fair because of the coronavirus panic.

Abdul Gaffer, a visitor from the Sheorapara section of the capital, had come to the fair with the intention of shopping for leather belts and wallets. He told The Independent: “There are a variety of leather products at the fair. I could visit many stalls to get my favourite products. The vendors are offering discounts. I didn’t know I'd get the products at such cheap rates.”

Shoriful Islam, a shopper, had come to the fair from Moghbazar in the capital. He said: “The most attractive fact of the fair will there be are a variety of products. I have many options to choose from. I visited many stalls and bought an executive bag for myself and a backpack for my child. I am happy because all products are made inside our country.”

"3 Tech", a Hazaribagh-based local leather goods and footwear manufacturer and exporter, brought practically 20 items to the fair. Tasnim Ahmed, CEO of "3 Tech", told The Independent: “We've come to the fair to create a bridge between our buyers and us. We brought a range of leather products and footwear for our buyers.”

“Executive bags, leather backpacks, schoolbags, leather jackets, footwear, wallets, and more are on display for buyers. Included in this, leather executive bags are exclusive. We have good response from buyers, though the number of visitors dropped because the identification of first coronavirus case in the country,” he added.

"Cozy Leather", a Savar-based leather goods manufacturer and exporter, had come to the fair with an array of products. A salesperson of "Cozy Leather" told The Independent: “We manufacture all types of bags and purses, mobile phone covers, sunglass covers, pen holders, notebook covers etc. Besides local markets, we export products to Sweden, the united kingdom and Canada.”

“We try to be a part of every edition of the SME Fair as we view it as an possibility to display our products for a broad range to visitors and shoppers. We brought 15 items as of this year’s fair. We are happy with the response we got,” he added.

"Samo Leather", an area leather goods manufacturer, brought a range of leather products, including handbags, notebook computer bags, belts, shoes, wallets, key rings, and cellular phone covers. Saiful Islam Momin, founder of "Samo Leathers", told The Independent: “I started my business in 2016. After struggling for just two years, I’ve setup a little factory of leather products.”

“My company produces wallets, belts, girls bags, office bags, file covers, jackets, backpacks, cardholders, key rings and other styles of leather goods,” he said.

Momin also said they were offering 15-20 per cent discounts at the fair, depending on the sort of products.

"People's Footwear and Leather Goods" (PLG) brought at least 20 components of leather products to the fair. A salesman of the PLG said: “Rezbin Hafiz, director of PLG, is probably the five who received the ‘National SME Entrepreneurs Award-2020’ from the Prime Minister. Our factory reaches Savar and we are here to display our exclusive products for our buyers.”

“Numerous visitors visit our stall everyday and buy a variety of our products. We always remember the decision of our buyers,” he added.

“To appreciate young entrepreneurs also to train them about leather goods in a proper way, our director, Rezbin Hafiz, established the PLG Leather Training Center,” he noted.

The price of leather goods is determined by quality and varies from stall to stall. Executive bags were sold for Tk. 3,000-6,000 and backpacks for Tk. 4,000-5,500. There have been large collections of ladies' items at the fair. Ladies' bags were sold at Tk. 1,200-3,500 and ladies' purses at Tk. 350-1,200. Men's wallets were sold at Tk. 400-1,200. Leather-made winter jackets were sold at Tk. 5,000-7,000. Sandals were sold at Tk. 300-2,500 and executive shoes at Tk. 2,000-3,500.  

The "SME Fair 2020" was split into 10 individual categories: Light Engineering Products, Leather Products, Jute Products, Food and Agriculture-processed Products, Herbal Products, Plastic Products, Handicrafts Items, Fashion Designs, IT and Services Products, and Miscellaneous Items.

Around seven enterprises showcased light engineering products, including chopper machine, rice and corn threshers, potato harvester and agricultural machineries, centrifugal pumps, water treatment plants etc.

Sheikh Saadi, founder of "Agro Machineries Limited", said: “We have taken the initiative to mechanise agriculture. We've brought harvesters, pumps, threshers at the fair that will bring a revolution inside our agricultural sectors.”

Twenty-five enterprises brought jute products to the fair. They mainly showcased branded rugs, jute made mattress, floor covers, jute made variety products, bags etc.

Israt Jahan Chowdhury, founder of "Tulika", said: “We brought almost 60 what to the fair. Ladies' items, crafts, home decors, mirror etc are our main jute made products.”

Twenty-eight small and medium entrepreneurs brought food and agro-processed products to the fair. They brought especially homemade cakes, dried rice, pickles, jam, jelly, honey, mustard oil, other edible oil, sea foods, frozen foods etc.

Twenty-one entrepreneurs, most of them women, brought handicrafts items. They brought handmade ornaments, clay made ornaments, bonsai, orchid, show pieces, tali, etc.

In every, 145 entrepreneurs brought fashion designing items at the fair. Most of the entrepreneurs are women. They brought block boutiques, home décors, embroidered household fashions, cushion, bed-sheets, saree, women's dresses, handcrafted dresses, needled products etc.   

The fair centered on creating more collaborative relationships between buyers and small and medium enterprises at the national level. About 296 enterprises displayed their various products. A great number of shoppers from all over the country visited the fair.

Numerous speakers, experts, and SME entrepreneurs shared their views on small and medium enterprises, entrepreneurships, problems and way forward at five seminars and sessions at the function.

Shafiqul Islam, managing director of the SME Foundation, said: “The fair was a good example of the growing participation of entrepreneurs in the SME sector.”

“Around 66 per cent of the participants in the fair are women and a lot of the products are directed at women visitors. That is a success that slowly but surely participation of women entrepreneurs is growing,” he also said.

“A decade back, only clothing and accessories were displayed, but now they have diversified to jute and leather goods, light engineering, as well as the IT-related field,” he added.

A total of 1 1.5 lakh persons visited the fair.
Source: http://www.theindependentbd.com

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