Iftikhar Md Zia, India

IFTIKHAR MD ZIA is a dynamic professional with 20 years of experience in the garments manufacturing and exports field. As a garment exporter in Chennai, his dedication was well known and for 18 years he climbed the ranks from Export Assistant to General Manager of Operations. During his tenure in this company, he handled many major labels, and built an excellent network of suppliers, factories and service providers. He handled several departments, including the Sustainability Department and at the time of his resignation lead both the Merchandising and Logistics Departments. He started his own sourcing agency, Zed Concept, in February 2007, and then converted this to Zed Concept Sourcing Pvt ltd in Dec. 2008 after joining with a company from Mozambique interested in making an entry in the Indian market. During this period, Zia has built a dependable network. He has successfully expanded product offerings from garments to fabrics, leather products, shoes, made-ups, and handbags, while expanding the market as well to Chennai, Tirupur, Salem, Erode, Karur, New Delhi, Agra, Aligarh, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Mumbai and Bangalore. Zia’s linguistic skills include fluency in English, Hindi, Urdu and Tamil – which makes it easy for him to travel throughout India where language plays an important role. He has an in-depth understanding of the varied cultures that prevail throughout India. He is extremely knowledgeable in the Import/Export field, and, well-versed in the customs and other regulations related to trade with India. An eager learner, he has a willingness to change and adapt to new techniques, which makes him an optimal candidate to advise on import/export issues regarding a myriad of products and services intended to be offered in India.