ICA hosts 700 delegates for cotton trade event in Singapore

The event featured keynote sessions from Joe Nicosia from Louis Dreyfus Company, Sunny Verghese from Olam International, Michael Every from RaboResearch, and a panel session organised by Women in Cotton which focused on Traceable Supply Chains. There was also plenty of opportunity for delegates to network and do business, one of the main event attractions, ICA said in a press release.

At the closing ‘Colours of the East’ Gala Dinner, Tim North from Tim North Consulting passed over the ICA presidency to Kim Hanna from TransGlobal Inspections. North reflected on key areas of focus during his time as ICA president: “Our membership has seen significantly more members join than in previous years which is a real positive. I set up a committee to review our membership structure. It was high time to do so, to make our fees more equitable among various groups and also allow for other categories of membership as our business evolves in a changing textile world.

“In this brave new and rapidly evolving world of sustainability, of traceability and transparency, the whole chain is becoming more translucent. There have been and there continue to exist what can be described as ‘walls’ between the various segments of our industry. For the first time, and under my leadership, the ICA formed a brand and retail committee that included several prominent brands and retailers from both the EU and the US. We met a number of times. Our discussions were both engaging and productive. This is an ongoing, developing, and evolving process.

“The ICA has been quite successful in recent years in both discouraging participants from getting on the default list and encouraging those on the list to negotiate their way off the default list. This has been notably achieved by signing so-called memoranda of understanding (MoUs) between key organisations that are playing vital roles in developing the march forward in a sustainable world.

“Organisations such as BCI and Cotton Made in Africa are already signatories to this accord. Part of my goal to achieve a safer trading environment was to actively identify other organisations who are bubbling up to the top in this new age of a sustainable world and who will become key to those who want to and have to develop their business in this new world. I am pleased to say that under my leadership, the ICA has signed an MoU with Textile Genesis—a world leader in the vital role of block chain traceability. We are also actively engaged with Supima in developing an MoU. So, that now leaves me with the final task and the pleasure to thank you, the members, for the confidence and the trust that you have placed in me to lead the Association this past year. What a journey. What an honour. What memories! Thank you!”

Next year’s event will take place in Liverpool from October 16–17, 2024.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)