Mr . Ali BULUT CEO of CNR Holding, Istanbul, Turkey “We have a big interest in Africa. Myself, i spent four years in sub-saharan african, before i joined CNR Holding? I know Africa’s Potential, in terms of manufacturing, or consuming”

“Hommes d’Afrique Magazine” attended EVTEKS, the Istanbul International Home Textiles Exhibition, that took place in Istanbul, Turkey, from 23 to 27 April 2019. EVTEKS is held at the CNR Expo facilities.

CNR Expo is a large modern expo area that, unlike similar areas in the world, has been conceived to be visitor-friendly: you don’t’ have to walk kilometers from the gate to the entrance, and other kilometers from the entrance to the alleys, to visit the stands.

At CNR Expo, you are immediately into the expo, once you cross
the entrance. And the geometric distribution of halls diminishes the walking distances.

Hommes d’Afrique magazine
met and interview Mr. Ali Bulut, the CEO of CNR Holding that manages CNR Expo. CNR Holding is the largest exhibition trade shows group in Turkey. It organizes around 50 trade shows every year. It has sixteen different companies, specialized in various domains
of the trade and exhibition shows business.

This April 23rd, 2019, you were one of the key speakers at the EVTEKS 2019 opening ceremony at CNR Expo in Istanbul. What is EVTEKS? How important is it in Turkey and in the world textile business?

EVTEKS, the Istanbul International Home Textiles Exhibition, is the world’s second largest world exhi- bition dedicated to home textiles.

Our company, CNR Holding orga- nizes EVTEKS, in partnership with Turkish Home Textile Manufacturers Association.

This year, we celebrate EVTEKS’s 25th anniversary. This means we’ve achieved a lot since EVTEKS was launched. Over one thousand com-

panies and brands are presenting their products on their stands, a full range of home textiles: fabrics, cur- tains, tabletop, draperies, carpets, bed sheets, towels, etc.

We’re expecting some 120,000 visi- tors, of which 40,000 will be coming from abroad. We have already pre-

registered some 35% of these visitors online. We are using cloud techno- logies to manage our huge database and to bring right buyers matching our exhibitor profile. We’re sure that this 25th-anniversary show will reach a record attendance. Regarding the second part of your question, we can expect that this show will bring around a billion US dollars of new orders to our exhibitors.

This is an outstanding contribution to both exports and domestic sales, as well.
I would also like to emphasize the fact that EVTEKS is not only the market place of Turkish Home Textile Manufacturers. It is also a global B2B meeting point for manufacturers and buyers from all around the world.

This year, 30 % of our exhibitors and 35 % of our buyers are coming from abroad, representing more than 100 countries.