COTTON USA held a virtual seminar in Dhaka to celebrate the sixth Cotton Day-Bangladesh on Monday, 15th November. Cotton Council International (CCI) introduced Cotton Day in 2016 in Bangladesh to celebrate US Cotton as well as Bangladesh being the largest manufacturer and exporter of cotton apparel products.
This virtual seminar was attended by Bangladesh Textile Mills Association president Mr. Mohammed Ali Khokon; Executive Director, CCI Bruce Atherley; Head of Global Marketing, Louis Drefys Company Steve Dyer; Business Consultant & Founder of Winston Eco-Strategies Andrew Winston; Head of Technical: Fabric, Colour, Sustainability & Garment Technology, Tesco PLC Joe Little; Managing Director of Atiya Consulting Limited and Bangladesh and Consultant of Cotton Council International Ali Arsalan, and Over one thousand participants including spinning and textile mill owners, executives, garment manufacturers, officials from international brands and retailers, cotton merchants and traders including agents.
They discussed- Global Cotton Economic Outlook, MegaTrends and the New Path to Profit: How Smart Companies Use Sustainability to Create Value, The Brand/Retailer Perspective of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, What Brands & Retailers are Looking for in their Supply Chains.
Mr. Bruce Atherley, Executive Director, CCI said, “We really appreciate all the support you have given to COTTON USA particularly in this terrible time that we are going through right now. We are optimistic that we will get through it and sooner hopefully we can get on our business, get back to doing things more in person.”
Bangladesh Textile Mills Association president Mr. Mohammed Ali Khokon, in his welcome speech congratulated the Cotton USA Licensees in Bangladesh, who are certified users of US cotton through the supply chain. This is a free certification given out by Cotton Council International and every year there are in excess of 50 Licenses in Bangladesh.
He also said BTMA is also proud to support Cotton Council International in their sustainability efforts and we have noted that many of our members have signed up to the US Cotton Trust Protocol already and we are sure that the membership and popularity of the program will grow as more Brands and Retailers sign up. We congratulate CCI on their good start by signing up well-known names like Gap, Levi’s, Tesco, Target, Next, and the PVH Group. Demand for US Cotton fiber will surely grow in the coming days as these Brands and Retailers request sustainably grown cotton from the US Cotton Trust Protocol program. ♦
