Discussions in Hong Kong: At a recent network session with fellow Footwear Council members from a few other countries while at the APLF, the topic for discussion revolved around the almost flat line and dip seen in manufacturing and exports with no significant increase.Of course, the likes of India and a few others commented on thing ...more

Was this your first overseas exhibition? No, I have done 5 other exhibitions, but this was my first time in Hong Kong.Did you do any confirmed business? – No.Did you come away with realistic leads? – Yes, I did.Are your current products appropriate for export? – Yes, they are.Because of your participation at APLF, are th ...more

East London, E. Cape, SA – Infix Creations won the best traditional handbag award and was chosen to feature in the trend area, positioning South Africa as a trend leader. This was a very big achievement with world buyers present.  ...more

Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – We found the fair to be excellent and, in many ways, back to the old glory days where everybody that we do business with around the globe attended.  We had current and past customers visit us from North America, South America, Europe, Australia and of course the East (which included Japan, Korea, etc).T ...more

21 businesses from Africa exhibited in Hong Kong in March. Of those, 4 were from Ethiopia and 3 were from Egypt.The SA exhibitors were divided between finished goods exhibitors on a sponsored national pavilion in the Fashion Access hall, overseen by the SA Footwear & Leather Export Council (SAFLEC), and 3 leather chemicals and leather ...more

Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA – We had a very successful APLF and were busy on all 3 days. We use these fairs to fly the NTE flag but also to meet many of our agents from the region as travel in and out of Hong Kong is very convenient for them. Some don’t attend ACLE in Shanghai as they see it as a Chinese fair and travelling ther ...more

After a 5-year absence, APLF returned to its home base in Hong Kong to celebrate the 40th year of its launch in 1984.Due to low prices and slow demand for leather, especially in the footwear sector, pre-fair expectations were mixed and somewhat muted. At the same time, there were hopes that the return of APLF could give the flagging marke ...more

The 2024 edition of APLF Leather will be held at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) from 19 - 21 March, concurrently with its sister events, Materials+ and Fashion Access.The importance of APLF as ‘the meeting place of the global leather industry’ is borne out by the combination of institutional and comme ...more

On 30 November in Dubai the UN will hold for almost 2 weeks the next Conference Of Parties, better known as COP 28, to discuss global warming and climate change. I wonder how many private planes with a handful of passengers will land in Dubai, like the Secretary General of the UN, like Ursula von der Leyen, and all those heads of states o ...more

Hong Kong - For the second year, APLF is being held in Dubai (13-15 March), and the organisers say statistics from APLF 2022 show that 76% participants found APLF "tremendously useful" to their business, and 84% of participants said that they will re-visit APLF Dubai this year in 2023.        & ...more

ACLE coincides with World Leather CongressShanghai, China - The 20th edition of the All China Leather Exhibition (ACLE) (August 30-September 1) will be preceded on August 29 by the 3rd World Leather Congress (WLC), also in Shanghai, themed 'The Leather Revolution'.  These 2 major events are the most important to be organised in China ...more

Urgent call to SA visitors to APLFThe feasibility study on the formation of a Leather Research Institute will be officially handed over at the APLF fair in Hong Kong by the Institute for Creative Leather Technology (Northampton University) to the dti, Exotic Leather South Africa and SHALC. Interested industry stakeholders attending the AP ...more