CEMATEX and its organiser, MP International, is launching a global platform at ITMA 2011 to share trends, exchange views and collaborate for the textile industry’s sustainable future. The Sustainable Textile Leaders Roundtable Dialogue will see participation from major textile machinery manufacturers, textile and apparel producers, and brands and retailers when they converge at ITMA 2011 this September.
Organised as part of ITMA’s 60th anniversary celebrations, the inaugural dialogue is scheduled to be held on the opening day, 22 September 2011, at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via.
Ms Sylvia Phua, Chief Executive Officer of MP International said, “Besides focusing on innovation and creativity, industry players need to tackle pressing environmental issues to ensure the long term sustainability of their businesses and secure their place in the global economy. We are pleased to partner with Textile Exchange to launch this dialogue to help all textile leaders in their quest for sustainability.”
Consumers are increasingly demanding eco-friendly products and supporting businesses that adopt eco-friendly processes, hence textile makers need to explore cost efficient and environmentally friendly solutions to meet rapidly growing demand. Companies with strong environmental and social commitments who spoke at a recent Textile Exchange conference also noted they had increased sales - even during the recession - as consumers chose to support companies with such initiatives.
Ms LaRhea Pepper, Senior Director of Textile Exchange said, “Textile sustainability enables the entire value chain to find cost savings and production efficiencies and pass those savings on to customers, while reducing the impact of textile production on people and the environment. With this as the key motivation behind the inaugural dialogue, we will be working closely with the organiser of ITMA 2011 to ensure we make a positive difference in the global textile industry.”
EURATEX – the European Apparel and Textile Confederation and CEMATEX – the European Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Brussels. The agreement foresees a stronger collaboration of the two European industry bodies in fields such as research, technological development and innovations as well as the promotion of a positive forward-looking image of both industries with European policy makers as well as the general public.
In the presence of representatives of the two sectors, the respective presidents of the two organisations, Dr. Peter Pfneisl, EURATEX and Mr. Steve Combes, CEMATEX highlighted in their speeches the growing importance of research and technological innovation for the European textile, clothing and machinery industries for maintaining a competitive advantage in the global competition, cited several examples of past joint actions between the two industries and outlined concrete plans for future activities.
Closing his speech, Dr. Pfneisl said “I would like to ensure our colleagues from CEMATEX that the European textile and clothing industry will not stop in its relentless efforts to innovate in its products and processes to always remain one step ahead of our global competition. These innovations are unthinkable without the right machines and equipment with the right functionalities and capacities, available at the right time. We don’t see anybody better placed to provide us with these innovation tools than our colleagues from the European textile machinery industry and we look forward to fill this collaboration agreement at European level with a wealth of mutually beneficial activities for many years to come.”
Mr. Combes confirmed CEMATEX’s strong believe in the benefits of cooperation stating that “We are keen to participate in Euratex initiatives such as the European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing.
