The Dubai World Trade Centre has recently played host to its first International Textile Fair, a welcome celebration of the Middle East’s surging textile trade.The Middle East has been a nexus of Eurasian textile production and trade since the early 9th century. Markets set along the Silk Road trade routes reached their western end at the ports of the eastern Mediterranean, and quickly became centres of textile production. During the Middle Ages, the textiles of the Middle East were highly prized goods that in due course stimulated the development of indigenous European production. The connection between Islamic and European textiles can be seen in the extensive terminology that is derived from Persian, Arabic, and Turkish dialects, including terms such as damask, taffeta, cotton, muslin, seersucker, and mohair. Today, the Gulf countries are gradually becoming the world's leading textile manufacturing and trading centres once again, due to a sound economic environment and fair trade practices. The UAE's annual textile exports have recently surpassed $1.6 billion, representing 7.7 per cent of the global export market. It currently stands as the world's third largest exporter of textiles after the United States and the United Kingdom. Now, the UAE is now on track to become the world's leading high-end textile and garment re-export centre by 2016.Investors have recently been flocking to get involved in the development of Dubai and other trade centres in the Middle East, and ventures such as the Burj Al Arab Hotel, Jebel Ali Free Zone and Palm Islands as well as the recent investment of $30 billion into Dubai's aviation infrastructure have strengthened the city's promotability as an area on the commercial fast track. These statistics suggest that this part of the world, and Dubai in particular, has considerable potential in terms of growth and innovation within the international textile industry. Considered the center of commerce and trade among the Middle East, Africa and Asia, Dubai also has the most open foreign trade policies in the area."As Dubai serves as a gateway to the whole Middle East and Asia region, international textile players are looking at ITF Dubai as a strategic platform to showcase their innovations, new prints and colours," says show organizer Dilip Nihalani of Nihalani Brothers. "Many of them will be launching their Spring/Summer Collection during ITF Dubai.”Swarovski, one of the show’s high-profile exhibitors, featured its new collection of crystals and accessories at the show. Several local Dubai textile mills such as Bella Donna and Oman Textiles were also in attendance, mixing with international exhibitors such as Colortex from Germany and Westcott Design from England. The two-day International Textile Fair attracted a wide range of textile mills and large print designers from Europe, India, China, Indonesia, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Turkey, Italy, France, Spain, Pakistan, Mongolia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Many other high-end manufacturers from around the world were also in attendance, recognizing the importance of such a monumental step towards a Middle Eastern textile resurgence.