The organisers of the special edition of the APLF trade fair to be held in Dubai for 2022 have announced that over 500 companies have signed up to attend the show covering a surface area of 20,000 sq m, writes ILM.

The first APLF in-person event since 2019 will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre between March 30 – April 1, 2022. Suppliers of leather, materials and other fashion accessories from Bangladesh, Brazil, France, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Spain, Turkey and the U.S. have already confirmed exhibitor participation.

The three-day fair will also feature leather industry related events such as conferences, general meetings and networking events allowing the international leather industry to gather in person at the APLF since the pandemic began.

Dubai reopened the city to domestic tourism in May 2020 and then also to international visitors in July 2020. The UAE is one of the world’s most vaccinated country with 98.1% of the population vaccinated.

The location of Dubai between Europe and Asia also makes it an ideal location for APLF whose mix of exhibitors and buyers come from approximately 80 countries worldwide. At the same time, there are many international flight connections to and from Europe, The Middle East, Africa, Asia and direct flights from the U.S. and South America.