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Cotton Program > Highlights

Upcoming Cotton and Textile Summit to be Held in Nairobi

The beautiful Windsor Resort in Nairobi will be the venue for the upcoming "Cotton and Textile Summit" which will be held from April 27-28, 2005. The Summit is organized through a partnership of the RATES Center, the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), COMESA, EAC and the East and Central Africa Trade Hub; the event is co-hosted by KAMEA and the KAM Textile Sector.

The objective of the summit is to promote and develop the concept of a regional trade community and networking structure that will stimulate profitability and growth in trade throughout the region. A policy dialogue component is scheduled to form the basis for a regional trade policy platform for eventual adoption. Importantly, an investment component is incorporated into the event which will take a look at how the "fabric gap", come 2007, can be addressed. This initiative must be industry-driven and the summit creates a viable business forum that will serve as the catalyst in starting the process of achieving this objective.

The theme for the summit will be "The Future Belongs to the Organized". This theme underpins the well recognized need for the region to collaborate in a cohesive manner, to act with a common voice and to interact on all issues that affect its competitiveness and ability to compete in the global market

Participation to the summit is by invitation with a target of around 120 delegates. Participants are drawn from the cotton and textile industry throughout the region, encompassing the trading blocs of COMESA, EAC and SADC. A policy component and an investment component is included in the summit and therefore representatives from Ministries of Trade & Industry, EPZA's and investment/export promotion entities will be in attendance.

Additionally, the summit aims to attract regional and international speakers, representatives from international organizations and potential partners for all links in the cotton & textile value chain.