After an absence of two years since its last edition in Hong Kong, APLF made its return amidst an “atmosphere of high energy, cheerfulness and optimist”. Despite the ongoing pandemic, travel restrictions in China and Southeast Asia, and the uncertainty caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, a total of 463 exhibitors from 34 countries and regions participated at the APLF Leather, Material + and Fashion Access, including first-timers from the Uzbekistan leather sector and participants from Georgia and Zimbabwe from the finished products sector. In line with previous estimations, 6 000 buyers from 88 countries and regions visited the Dubai World Trade Centre in this period.

In the welcome conference, David Bondi, Director of APLF and Senior Vice President at Informa Markets Asia, highlighted that in spite of the venue’s change, the international leather trade fair had still attracted 20 major national pavilions from Brazil, Egypt, France, Georgia, India, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe, among others.  "As a business platform, APLF Dubai will open new markets and expand its global reach until normality reigns again in China and Southeast Asia", he added.

The organization noted that sustainability and environmental issues have taken centre stage in the past years, with leading tanners launching branded sustainable leather and introducing social responsibility into their corporate business models. In parallel, "leather revival was also observed in some countries, such as in India, Egypt, Uzbekistan and some parts of Africa where governments went the extra mile to support the sector".

“With the leather industry in an expansion and development stage in many countries, APLF will continue to play a pivotal role by providing a global business platform for such countries, as it promotes the leather sector by actually being an integral part of it”, stated the organization.