Two-Day Global Cotton Summit Bangladesh-2015 Will Take Place on 20-21 March,in Dhaka

The two-day Global Cotton Summit Bangladesh-2015, being jointly organised by the Bangladesh Cotton Association (BCA) and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), will take place on 20-21 March, 2015, in Dhaka.

The summit will be inaugurated by Mohammad Emaz Uddin Pramanik, Bangladesh’s minister of textiles and jute. There will be 13 sessions over the two-day period where eminent personalities will speak on various aspects of cotton and textile industry. Each session/panel discussion will be followed by a question and answer session.

On the first day, Jahangir Alamin, managing director of Fuad Spinning Mills and past president of BTMA, will speak on ‘Bangladesh spinning industry in next decade’. Mark Messura from Cotton Incorporated will talk on ‘Global cotton outlook, growths and economics for next 10 years’.

‘Indian cotton, new development’ will be covered by Mahesh Sharda, president Indian Cotton Association, while the ‘US cotton industry and supply chain marketing’ will be covered by Sean Callanan from Cotton Council International. The day will end with a panel discussion on ‘Cotton industry in Bangladesh: Buyer and seller perspective’.

Day-2 of the summit will see presentation on African cotton, followed by Fariduddin Ahmed from Cotton Development Board of Bangladesh speaking on ‘Cotton production in Bangladesh and its challenges’.

Discussion will also be held on ICA rules and bylaws, risk management, going green, etc.

Speaking at a press conference, BTMA president Tapan Chowdhury said more than 250 delegates from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Turkey, US, UK, and other countries have confirmed their participation in the summit.

Bangladesh is currently the second largest cotton importer in the world. Last year, the country imported about 5.5 million bales or 90 per cent of its cotton requirement.

The demand for cotton would increase in the coming years as Bangladesh is planning to increase its readymade garment and textile exports to US$ 50 billion by 2021 from last year’s export value of $24 billion.

Chowdhury said the summit is important as it will help in reducing the risk on cotton trade by decreasing the communication gap between Bangladeshi cotton buyers and international sellers.