Sustainability Workshop by CITA-APLF at SFBC

13 Mar '09

4 min read

A Sustainability Workshop will be held on the morning of March 31, the day of this three-day event to be held at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.

The Sustainable Fashion Business Consortium (SFBC) will join forces with the Clothing Industry Training Authority (CITA) and APLF Ltd., the Organisers of Prime Source Forum, to offer this important and highly topical Workshop.

The event organisers aim to offer a platform that will allow those in the apparel industry to discuss how they might make their businesses more sustainable. All delegates at PSF are entitled to take part in this half-day Workshop.

Pat-Nie Woo, Chairman of the SFBC said, "The Organisers of Prime Source Forum have proactively approached us on outlining the programme. They understand the significance of this issue in the textile and apparel sector and are making conscious steps to arrange a workshop and a forum for open discussion on this topic from all stakeholders, which includes manufacturers, sourcing offices, brands and retail, government agencies and NGOs. I feel that the key here is open dialogue and Prime Source Forum and Workshop will really help the industry achieve it this year".

Woo added, "We expect that this Sustainability Workshop will be able to offer some general directions for practitioners to move forwards or to follow."

Michael Duck, a Director of APLF Ltd. said, "As we all know, the issues of sustainability can be controversial and manufacturers may in an economic downturn find it difficult to follow, especially as at the same time they are being required by their customers to lower prices. However, being sustainable, whether within an organisation or as part of the industry, should not be just one-sided. Perhaps players in all sectors of the supply chain should work harder now, more than ever, to make the entire supply chain sustainable. Is this an achievable goal or just wishful thinking?"

The outcome of the discussion at the Workshop will be presented during the "Sustainability" Session to be held on Day Two of the Prime Source Forum so that delegates who may have missed the Workshop can also share in the discussions.

"In the Sustainability Workshop, five groups of delegates from all over the supply chain will be formed to discuss preset questions that will be given to the delegates prior to the discussion. Such topics include "Ownership of carbon credits, possibilities of carbon trading and its implementation in the apparel industry", "Corporate rating and sustainability development", "What are real "green labels?", "Oversupply and smart sourcing", and "Assuring supplies of sustainable products," added Duck.

Facilitators of the discussion groups are namely Alice Cohen from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the UK, Dr. John Easton of DyStar UK, Carmen Kwong of Pacific Potential and Pat-nie Woo.

"DyStar, the world's leading supplier of a full range of textile dyes, chemicals and services, will sponsor the luncheon held immediately before the Sustainability Forum Panel on 2 April 2009, demonstrating it's keen commitment towards a sustainable textile supply chain."

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