SINGAPORE, Oct. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Singapore Fashion Week started here on Monday with the participation of over 1,000 exhibitors.

    Some 80,000 visitors are expected at this year's Singapore Fashion Week, which is set to generate close to 200 million Singapore dollars (about 118 million US dollars) in business.

    The seven-day event, organized by the Textile and Fashion Federation, will take place mainly at Suntec City and Raffles City Shopping Center.

    This will also be the first time that manufacturers and designers are participating in a single fashion event, which includes Asian International Textile Machinery Exhibition (ITMA ASIA), the International Yarns, Fibers, Fabrics and Accessories Exhibition (YAFA ASIA 2005), Apparel Asia 2005, the Designers Show,Fashion Tech Solutions Conference and InspirAsian where Singapore will showcase some of the region's talents.

    Organizers said that Singapore, as one of Asia's fashion hubs, can play a crucial role in setting fashion trends in this region.

    To encourage more budding designers, the event also launched a "Young Designer Fund".

    Singapore Fashion Week aims to play a vital role in facilitating networking amongst exhibitors, participants, designers and trade visitors.

    Currently, Singapore has a critical mass of more than 700 textile and apparel manufacturers, traders, fashion buying houses and supporting industry players.

    Last year, exports from Singapore's textile and garment manufacturers alone amounted to 4.3 billion Singapore dollars (about 2.5 billion US dollars). Enditem