Shanghai, Focus the Attention of Global Textile Industry

  The 2009 Annual Conference of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), hosted by China National Textile & Apparel Council (CNTAC), was held from October 23 to 25 in the city of Shanghai, China.

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  On April 17, 2008, the China National Textile & Apparel Council (CNTAC) joined the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) as a new member association. On the occasion of the ITMA Asia + CITME 2008 exhibition in ShangHai, China, the Council and the Federation formally celebrated this decision. The ITMF is honored to welcome the Council as its new member.

  Nearly 300 domestic and overseas textile industrial representatives attended this annual conference. Of them, Mr. Xu Kuangdi, President of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Mr. Han Zheng, Mayor of Shanghai, Halit Narin, President of ITMF, Du Yuzhou, President of CNTAC were invited to take part in the annual conference and gave an address. Moreover, Gerhard Schröder, former Chancellor of Germany (1998-2005) and Prof. Edmund S. Phelps, Nobel Laureate for Economics (2006) were specially invited to present a keynote speech.

  The general theme of the annual conference, "Structural Adjustments in the World Textile Industry," reflected the current state of the world textile industry, which faces various challenges - namely, structural technological adjustments, short supply of resources, increasing obligations related to environmental concerns, and global financial and economic challenges. The industry sees continuous opportunities to upgrade its technology for reasons of both efficiency and ecology. In the past few years, economic globalization and the instable world economic situation have sped up the need to make structural adjustments with regard to technologies, products, fibers, energy and interdependent relations among all countries and regions throughout the value chain. All textile nations and regions are charged with confronting a variety of important issues concerning economic developments, interdependent relations and mutually beneficial cooperation.

  The 2009 ITMF Annual Conference provided opportunities for in-depth presentations and discussions on all these aspects of the general theme, with the goal of promoting mutual understanding, enhancing cooperation and creating new prosperity for the world textile industry.

  This Annual Conference, oriented with the theme, were divided into four parts: 'The Impact of the Financial Crisis on the Global Economy in General and the Textile Industry in particular', 'Interdependence of the Textile and Retail Industry', 'Status Quo and Development Trend of the Chinese Textile Industry', 'and the Technical Textile: Growth Segment of the Future'. Various renowned international speakers, such as Stephen Green from the Standard Chartered Bank, Shanghai, Terry Townsend, Executive Director of ICAC, Washington, Friedrich Weninger from the Lenzing Group, also Xu Kunyuan, Vice President of the CNTAC, Xi Shiping, Shangtex Holding, and so on were invited to present and exchange their views on those topics.

  It is the first time to hold the ITMF Annual Conference in China, as the host, China National Textile and Apparel Council, with the concept of "Communication, Cooperation and Win-win", indicated that the textile industry in China would go on insisting on the Reform and Opening-up policy, improving the structural adjustment and upgrading with innovation, developing the textile industry environment friendly, preserving and promoting a sustainable industrial development with self-discipline and social compliance.

  Furthermore, CNTAC also believed that the convening in China would help those participants better understand the challenges the global textile industry is facing today and in the future and thus could perform well to promote the global textile industrial structural adjustment significantly.

Interview with Halit Narin

(President of ITMF)

Q: What's the role of ITMF?

A: The ITMF meaning is to bring the national people together in different countries, to make them be friends, or to make each other understanding. In the future, the friends maybe can make business together, for the good, for the different companies from different countries. For ITMF, we do not speak business, we do not make business, we only just make dialogues, social dialogues, as well as social interviews, and we provide the platform.

Main objectives of ITMF 

    To provide a forum for discussion of matters appropriately within the common interest and concern of textile companies.

    To provide a neutral meeting ground for textile trade associations for the exchange of information on matters affecting their textile industries, consistent with the trade regulation laws of the nations represented.

    To act as a central agency of the textile industries for the collection of information, statistical and otherwise, on textile manufacturing developments in all countries of the world.

    To act as spokesman for the world textile industry in matters relating to raw materials (cotton and man-made fibres).

    To perform the functions of a liaison agent between the textile industries and governments and intergovernmental organizations interested in the textile industry.

Through ITMF the textile industries cooperate at the international level with organizations representing other sectors allied to their industry.

Q: As we know, China joined in the ITMF in 2008, so why the Annual Conference choose China, especially the city of Shanghai, to hold the annual conference? 

A: Some people used to go against the China's export of manufactures. So that through the ITMF conference, we invited them to China and they could know more about China. 

    Secondly, Mr. Gerhard Schröder knew newly about what is happening around the global world politically, economically, and socially, so that we invite him kindly, as my friend, to attend the conference to give a speech. China should know more about the world, and the colleague of the ITMF meeting should also know more about the world. Because for most of them, it is the first time to meet Mr. Schröder. So that, in my opinion, the ITMF annual meeting this time would be much more successful than that we held in any other countries. 

Interview with Dean B. Turner

(Senior Vice President, Global Account management, Global Product Supply Chain)

Q: What kinds of role China plays in the global textile market?

A: China plays a very important role in the global textile industry. Not just production of textiles and garments, among the global textile industrial chain, China is the no.1 producer of cotton, the no.1 producer of synthetic fibers, the no.1 manufacturer of textiles and garments, and serving as an export engine of these businesses. What excites us the most is the importance of China as a final consumption market. The growth of the retail really is an opportunity that awaits the global textile business. Especially within China, because the Chinese brands and retailers are starting to gain more manner, one of the ambitions that we made is to calls on the Chinese brands and retailers, try to get them to adopt more kinds of products, technology in cotton products to better serve the Chinese consumers, which we see clearly in the future.

Q: What role China plays for the integration of global textile industrial chain?

A: Obviously, one of the factors in the chain is that we have too much production. We have too much production supply. China represents an unique part in the supply chain, you have all the pieces, not everyone owns the pieces, such as yarn, knitting, finishing, as well as synthetic products, buttons, sewing, and so on, whereas some other places around the world could not compete or relatively smaller in some categories, and they very often import products from China to fulfill their role as an exporter to the world developed countries.

Source form China Textile Magazine

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