ITMF 2017 themed on tech, trade, climate in disruptive times

The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), an international forum for the world's textiles industry, has themed its annual conference for 2017 on technology, trade, and climate in disruptive times. Experts and delegates from the entire textile value chain will meet and discuss on the topic at ITMF's 2017 annual conference to be held in Bali, Indonesia from September 14-16. 

In a conversation with Fibre2Fashion, Christian Schindler, Director-General of ITMF, said, "The title of the general theme 'Technology, Trade, Climate: Orientation in Disruptive Times' indicates where the challenges come from. Since the financial crisis of 2008, the world has been changing ever faster driven by technological, political and environmental factors. Many of these factors are disruptive."
 
Adding more on the relevance of the theme, Schindler said, "Fast fashion and e-commerce have transformed the textiles industry fundamentally, Industry 4.0 is becoming a reality much faster than expected, political patterns are undergoing fundamental change (nationalism and protectionism), and environmental challenges are more visible than ever, etc."

The ITMF annual conference will also offer smaller committee meetings, workshops and seminars on specific topics that complement the conference. For example, there will be meetings of the Joint Cotton Committee, the Spinners Committee, the Home Textiles Producers Committee, and the Fibres & Applications Committee. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, former general secretary of NATO and former foreign minister of the Netherlands will speak on Technology, Trade, Climate: Reshaping the Geopolitical Landscape on the second day of the conference.