T E X M A S Textile Merchant Group

The $4 billion plus Dubai textile mart, which sits at the center of a 1.4 billion booming consumer market extending from the CIS to Africa and the Indian subcontinent, has emerged as one of the most modern and profitable trading points in this region's commercial map. Hand held by the Textile Merchants Group ( Texmas ) , the apex body of the UAE textile merchants, which was established in 1990, the trade has now earned the reputation of being run by some of the most professionally motivated and trusted merchants in the country. The formation of Texmas at the beginning of the last decade was itself a landmark development for the textile trade in the UAE. Initiated by a handful of senior textile merchants, the Group, which is also the interface between the local government and the country's textile trade, now has a strength of 300 members, thus accounting for 80 per cent of UAE's textile trade. One of the significant things to note about Texmas' membership profile is that it reflects the cosmopolitan environment of the UAE business as the membership runs across a cross section of nationalities including traders from Afghanistan, India, Iran, UAE, Pakistan and Oman. These traders together re-export to over 45 countries. What Texmas stands for: Texmas represents the modern vision of Dubai which has been time and again emphasised by the Rulers of the country and in particular His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and the UAE's Defence Minister. The establishment of the Group, which was the first in a series of trade associations that came into existence in Dubai during the course of the early '90s and now, marked the first step towards organising the local textile trade. The creation of Texmas by the visionaries in the trade was mostly mission oriented and the Group today has been vested with the responsibility of enhancing and improving the textile trade in and around Dubai. While the initial focus of the Group was to mainly ensure smooth and steady flow of business in the trade, Texmas has, over the years, identified various other areas to contribute its bit for the trade. And chief among these have been settling disputes among or between members amicably, acting as the link between the trade and the government and redressing the various problems of its members. Texmas today also has the responsibility of exploring new markets for the trade apart from generating ideas for improving the business environment as a whole.