The 6th International Textile and Apparel Congress (ITAC), presented by Technopak Advisors Ltd Pvt, successfully concluded last week with 150 delegates in attendance.
6th ITAC, 2007 was a one day congress with the theme “Growth Paradigms through Consolidation and Collaboration”. The structure of the conference was divided in three sessions with 4 panel discussions and various industry specific perspectives of opportunities generated by Consolidation and Collaborations.
Key Note address was delivered by Mr. J. N Singh, Textile Commissioner, India on how Consolidation and Collaboration could be taken as a vision of future and what are the various facets of consolidation and collaboration.
First Session was based on the strategic perspectives of a Retailer and a Buyer with two panel discussions, where retailer and Buyers perspective were discussed one by one, Theme of the first discussion is “the growth opportunities for domestic textile and apparel companies- retailer perspective”.
The key speakers includes representatives of the major retailers in India Mr. Govind Shrikhande, CEO, Shoppers Stop ltd, Mr. Tarun Joshi, MD, Brand House retailers and Mr. Vinay Nandkarni, CEO, Globus stores pvt. ltd.
Second panel discussion was attended by Mr. Atul Ujagar, Country director, Nike Inc, Mr. Bhargava Huchurao, Country Director, Columbia Sportswear, Mr Vinay Arora, Country Manager, Charming Shoppes Inc, Bangladesh, Mr. Venu G Nambiar, Indiahead, TSS pvt ltd.
This discussion was focused on how the collaborative buying is moving from transactional to strategic relations and what is its impact on the industry through a buyers point of view.
Mr Michael Yee, VP and MD Asia Operations, Liz Claiborne, Hong Kong also shared his inputs on retailer perspective of collaborative buying.
Second session was focused on strategic perspectives from the manufacturer’s point of view. The panel discussion was attended by Mr. Sharif Zahir, MD, Ananta apparels, Bangladesh, Mr. Ajith Dias, Director Brandix & Chairman JAAF, Sri Lanka, Mr. Bashir Ali Mohammad, CEO, Gul Ahmed Textiles, Pakistan and Mr. Sanjay Arora, MD, Dicitex Décor, India.
Some inputs were also shared by Mr. P.K Bhandari, President Raymond India on how scale and diversity is important for more consolidated world.
Third session was based on the theme on “consolidation through Merger and Acquisitions - an answer”. The panel discussion was attended by Mr Dinesh Hinduja, ED, Gokuldas Exports, India, Mr, Rashesh Shah, CEO & MD, Edelweiss Securities, Mr, Giogio Moise, Partner, Access International, Italy, Mr. R Nabha, MD, WL Ross, India, Mr. Dilip Jiwarjka, MD, Alok Ind Ltd discussing the investment opportunities in Indian textile industry.
Also Mr Mukund Chaudhary, MD, Spentex Ind ltd shared his thoughts on growth opportunities that exists beyond the boundaries and how one can take advantage of the situation through integration, expansion & acquisitions.
The congress was well attended by150 delegates from various countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Italy, etc though major chunk is from India, all representing some of the most renowned textile manufacturers and retailers in their respective countries.
There was a good media gathering with reporters from the papers and business/trade magazines from India like the The Telegraph, DFU, Tecoya Trend, Textile Excellence and also covered by electronic media CNBC and NDTV to name a few.
This was followed with a small cocktail which gave all the speakers and delegates a chance to network and interact with each other. The 6th ITAC 2007 was very well received and overall the congress met the expectations of the attendees.
