Over 500 delegates from the global cotton community gathered from 16-17 October at Liverpool 2024 – the ICA’s traditional trade event and gala dinner.

Delegates came together in the Crowne Plaza and St George’s Hall, Liverpool to take part in the two-day event, which saw a variety of top industry speakers take to the stage.

The event featured keynote sessions from Arvind Singhal (Technopak Advisors), Colin Iles (Viterra), a panel session moderated by Bill Ballenden (Louis Dreyfus Company) addressing the current legislative environment and a panel session on the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the cotton industry featuring Macrovesta’s Oliver Jobling and Joseph Maliszewski and Jagan Gopinath (Arvind Ltd). There were also a series of Cotton Connected sessions throughout the programme focusing on arbitration and various key cotton regions, delivered by a range of industry representatives including the ICA’s Women in Cotton Committee.

As usual, there was plenty of opportunity for delegates to network and do business, one of the main event attractions.

At the closing Gala Dinner, Kim Hanna (TransGlobal Inspections) passed over the ICA presidency to Mohomed Bashir (Gul Ahmed Textile Mills). Kim reflected on key areas of focus during her time as ICA President:

“…Serving as the ICA President is an honor I will always treasure. But this year was never about my individual role. A year ago, when I stepped into this role in Singapore, I talked about the necessity for the global cotton community to unite our voices and our collective wisdom so we may best mitigate the challenges that lay ahead.  And as it turned out, this year has been about the collective power we need to wield as an industry.

The power of ‘we’ is the collective strength that comes from collaboration and unity.  No matter how strong any single entity might be, true progress, true success – comes from working together.  The cotton industry is vast and diverse, spanning across continents, cultures and gender. Our strength lies in this diversity, but our success depends on unity.

This year, we saw firsthand the importance of unity when America, Australia, and Brazil signed a historic MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), pledging to work together for the betterment of the global cotton industry.  The ICA signed three MoUs this year with ITFM, Supima and renewed pledges with the Cotton Association of India and China National Cotton Exchange to uphold our safe trading environment.  These types of collaboration illustrate the power of ‘we’ in action. 

Early in the year, we received a wakeup call.  Synthetic fibers continue to gain market share and may soon receive an unfair advantage if the EU legislation in progress concludes synthetics to be more sustainable than natural fibers.  In response, the ICA has rallied behind the “Make the Label Count” initiative, adding a voice for cotton stakeholders alongside other natural fibers for fair and credible sustainability claims in textiles.  Following ICA’s lead, 14 cotton associations and stakeholders are backing MTLC and that number is growing.   This is a perfect example of The power of ‘we’.  No single voice can make the impact needed, but by standing in solidarity, and combining our voices, cotton and natural fibers can have greater influence in shaping the pending legislation.

Cotton is one of nature’s greatest gifts, we all know it is inherently sustainable, and we must continue to fight against the spread of misinformation. This year, the ICA Board has approved a new committee for the global promotion of cotton.  The committee will monitor EU legislation and work toward building a global coalition to advocate for cotton, dispel misinformation and push back against synthetic fibers.  We all have a role in this—from producers to brands.

Again, we must harness the power of ‘we’.  In that spirit, the ICA Board has also approved new committees to engage brands, retailers, and sustainability platforms.  They understand how engagement at every level of the value chain is needed to strengthen our industry. 

At the heart of the ICA’s work is the sanctity of contracts. But for that to be upheld, every party must understand the rules, their obligations and their protections.  To facilitate this, the ICA held five workshops this year in key consuming regions – more than ever before.   Between the management team and I, we traveled to 13 countries attending conferences and reaching out to engage mills and textile manufacturers.  The workshops and outreach visits are important and play a key role but regional stakeholders’ engagement with the ICA needs to go further. 

Over the past 20 years, the ICA has made great strides toward creating a balanced and fair environment within our rules, committees, and board. While we’ve made significant progress, we know that there is always room for improvement. That’s why we’re extending a warm invitation to all stakeholders to join the ICA.   Your insights and participation are crucial to making our industry even stronger.  Through the power of ‘we’, we can continue to build an equitable and safer environment for trading. 

As I step down from my role as President, I do so with great optimism. The ICA has laid strong foundations this year, but we must continue to advocate for collaboration.  Our incoming president, is a very wise man who hails from the spinning and textile manufacturing community, will no doubt carry this mission forward.  I’m confident that we have the tools, the talent and the passion to ensure that cotton remains a fiber of choice for generations to come…”

Next year’s event will take place in Dubai from 8-9 October.

All event photos will be available on the ICA’s Facebook very soon…

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