South Asia Eyewear Trade Exchange Meeting Successfully Held
On October 10, during the 2026 ASEAN Int'l Optics Expo (WOF | Bangkok), the South Asia Eyewear Trade Exchange Meeting was successfully held concurrently. Focusing on the South Asian market, local industry representatives, professional buyers, and exhibiting companies sat down together to engage in open exchanges on topics such as South Asian market trends, popular procurement categories, product adaptation requirements, and cross-border cooperation models, with a focus on “sharing, exchange, and discussion.”
Pan Wei, representative of the organizing committee and Chairman of Donnor Exhibition, delivered a welcome address. He said that markets in South Asian countries each have their own characteristics in consumption habits, product demand, and procurement methods. When entering local markets, companies should not only pay attention to scale, but also clearly understand buyers’ actual needs and consumer preferences. WOF | Bangkok held this exchange meeting precisely in the hope of leveraging the exhibition’s role as a bridge: on the one hand, helping eyewear companies accurately understand the needs and procurement characteristics of the South Asian market; on the other hand, opening a window for local buyers to get closer to eyewear companies and products, enabling efficient matchmaking between supply and demand at the exhibition.
At the event, Haider Ali, General Manager of 13Century; Phule Tushar Rajaram, General Manager of Pixel Spectacles And Contact Lenses Trading LLC; and Saraf Nitin Ramesh, General Manager of Eye 2 Eye Opticals, among other South Asian buyer representatives, analyzed local industry development, market changes, and consumer demand. Combining the characteristics of the South Asian market, they introduced the development of the local eyewear industry and shared insights on product demand, consumption trends, and channel changes, helping exhibiting companies understand the development characteristics of South Asia from industry and market perspectives.
Lalith Ravindra Wijesooriya Arachchige Don, President of the Sri Lanka Optometric Association, said that for buyers, the product itself is only one part of what they consider when choosing a supplier. In addition to style and quality, whether products can adapt to the local market, whether supply is stable, and whether delivery and foreign trade services are complete are also key factors in the procurement process. Through on-site sharing, the focus of South Asian procurement was conveyed more clearly to companies present.
Subsequently, a representative of the EMMA OPTICS shared information about the company from aspects such as corporate development, production capacity, product advantages, and brand philosophy. Combining overseas market expansion experience, the representative shared content on foreign trade services, market cooperation, and channel support. He also spoke about the company’s attention to the South Asian market and shared its observations on local market demand and development space, hoping to learn about local procurement needs through this exchange and find cooperation directions that fit its own products.
With procurement needs on one side and corporate products and services on the other, both sides entered a free negotiation session around the issues they each cared about. The atmosphere shifted from on-stage presentations to more relaxed exchanges. Buyers and exhibitors continued to communicate on topics such as products, prices, market demand, and channel cooperation, while companies further introduced their products and business situation to South Asian buyers based on their own product features.
From market trends to procurement needs, and from products and services to cooperation possibilities. For companies interested in expanding into the South Asian market, a real understanding of the market often begins with one exchange, one conversation.
In the future, WOF | Bangkok will also continue to enrich the trade exchange content during the exhibition based on the actual needs of different overseas markets, creating more opportunities for exchange and communication between companies and overseas procurement resources.