THE Italians will have the biggest national pavilion at Asia Pacific Leather Fair '94. Nearly 400 leading Italian companies dealing in leather and related industries will have their products on display at the exhibition. And, for the first time, the Italian pavilion will present an Italian pre-selection display where 27 of Italy's leading leather garment and accessory manufacturers will be showing off their designs. Occupying a gross floor area of more than 3,700 sq m, the Italian pavilion will feature the products of 397 firms - twice as many as last year. Aniello Musella, the Italian Trade Commissioner, said the increased number of Italian exhibitors represented ''a prosperous trend for the leather trade between Italy and the Asia-Pacific region''. In Part One of the fair, 284 Italian exhibitors, including 157 tanneries, 51 leather machinery suppliers, 42 components and accessories suppliers and seven chemical suppliers, will showcase a wide range of products. They will include Italian hides and skins, plus new leather processing machinery and manufacturing technology. In Part Two of the fair, 113 firms will exhibit their range of leather goods, which will include 84 collections of shoes and 29 displays of handbags, belts and wallets. Mr Musella said Hong Kong was an important export market for Italian leather goods. The territory purchased HK$1.9 billion of leather-related goods from Italy in 1993, 16.6 per cent of the country's total leather exports for the year. And demand was rising, he added, because Hong Kong's imports in 1993 were 51 per cent up on the previous year. Mr Musella said he was ''very confident'' about the future of the Italian leather industry because ''we offer better value than Pakistan, Taiwan and Argentina'' which were Italy's main competitors. He said Italian firms selling high-quality raw materials could meet the specific demands of Hong Kong manufacturers looking to produce ''something more trendy''.
