The ITMF Board together with the two co-hosts – Swiss Textiles and Swiss Textile Machinery – have decided to postpone the ITMF Annual Conference, which was due to take place in Davos, Switzerland from April 10-12, 2022.
“Due to the uncertain and unpredictable outlook with regard to travel and event restrictions caused by the new Covid-19 variant “Omicron, the event has been rescheduled to September 18-20, 2022,” the organisation said in a statement.
Elsewhere, the textile division of the ARISE Integrated Industrial Platform (IIP), based in the UAE, has joined ITMF as a new Corporate Member.
ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (IIP) identifies industrial gaps in African countries to unlock value and create new industries. The objective is to industrialize key sectors by creating local transformation, maximizing production, efficiency, and cost, which in turn generates local value addition.
Arise IIP aims to boost exports, enable local transformation of raw materials and promote trade by tailor-made special economic zones in Gabon, Benin and Togo. In Benin and Togo Arise IIP will focus at creating value chains for the textile industry – from raw material sourcing to resource transformation through manufacturing, to exporting final products.
The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) founded in 1904 is the international forum of the global textile value chain. Its members are from textile and apparel producing countries representing 90 per cent of global production.
“By becoming a Corporate Member of ITMF, Arise IIP will benefit from a unique international network, the expertise of ITMF, and an international platform for the global textile value chain where international trends and are discussed. Likewise, ITMF and ITMF’s members will benefit from Arise’s activities in West Africa,” said Dr. Christian Schindler, Director General of ITMF.
Mr. Rajaguru Raja, the CEO of Arise IIP (Textile Division), added: “By joining ITMF we have access to all major players in the global textile and apparel value chain. The world is getting more and more integrated. Therefore, cooperation along the global textile value chain and understanding its complexity and dynamics are paramount.”