World Textile Summit 2015 reveals first speakers
13 May 2015 – The first speakers have been announced for the World Textile Summit, which will be co-located with ITMA 2015 and explore sustainability strategies to create business value in the textile manufacturing value chain.
In line with the key themes of ITMA 2015, the Summit’s programme is being developed to explore a series of topics that link decisions on sustainability to profitability and corporate success.
These include the role of sustainability in:
– differentiating brands and companies
– business profitability and security
– investment decisions
– the circular supply chain
– customer acquisition and retention
– product development
The Summit will be an opportunity for textile business leaders to share and discuss their own direct experiences, with several presenting short case studies and engaging in audience debate on topics that include:
– the investment case for green technology
– value creation from the use of sustainable materials
Speakers announced today include Helga Vanthourout, a senior consultant at the Sustainability and Resource Productivity Practice of McKinsey and Company. Ms Vanthourout is an expert in the circular economy as it relates to textiles and her clients range from manufacturers to waste-management companies and even city authorities. In 2014, McKinsey, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, authored an influential report on the circular supply chain, on behalf of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
The World Bank, whose International Finance Corporation division reported in 2012 on ‘The Business Case for Sustainability’, has also accepted an invitation to speak at the Summit.
Scheduled for 13 November 2015, the second day of ITMA 2015 in Milan, the World Textile Summit 2015 is designed to be a unique one-day event that brings together the world’s most influential textile leaders to debate issues of strategic importance to the global industry. It is owned and organised by CEMATEX, WTiN and MP Expositions.
The event is sponsored by leading textile-machinery companies and environmental standards bodies including SPGPrints, MS Italy, bluesign technologies, Oeko-Tex, Reggiani, and Oerlikon. Supporting partners include the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, The Textile Institute and the Better Cotton Initiative
About World Textile Summit
The high-level business forum is a joint initiative by ITMA owners CEMATEX, the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers, in partnership with World Textile Information Network Ltd (WTiN) and the Singapore-based exhibition organiser, MP Expositions Pte Ltd. It sets out to deliver an inspirational, forward-looking agenda, comprising expert presentations and interactive panel discussions, designed to offer a global perspective on the opportunities and challenges that face the textile industry. Its
first edition took place at ITMA 2011 in Barcelona, when the keynote speaker was the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.
About ITMA
ITMA, the world’s largest international textile and garment machinery show, is recognised as the ‘Olympics’ of the textile and garment machinery industry. Held every four years at different venues across Europe, it is owned by CEMATEX, the European textile machinery manufacturers association. ITMA 2015 will be held at the Fiera Milano Rho, Milan, Italy, from 12 to 19 November.
ITMA
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