st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:””;mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0cm;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:10.0pt;font-family:”Times New Roman”;mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;mso-ansi-language:#0400;mso-fareast-language:#0400;mso-bidi-language:#0400;}

More than 125 members of the Turkish cotton community attended the ‘ICA Cotton Trade Information Summit’ at the Kahramanmaras Chamber of Industry and Trade on 28 June 2010.

Taking the form of a workshop and an open forum session, the event was organised by KASIAD –  Kahramanmaras Business Trade Community and hosted by the International Cotton Association (ICA).
Designed to engage and hear the views of the local cotton community and help generate a greater understanding of the principles of contract sanctity, ICA Rules and arbitration procedures,the event was open to both ICA members and non-members and it was free to attend.
At the summit, Ertugrul Tanriverdi, ICA Director and Vice President of Ensar Tekstil – a spinning company based in Turkey- welcomed the delegation. During his address, Ertugrul highlighted the fact that cotton production in Turkey does not meet consumption: “Last year,our production was 1,800,000 bales and consumption was 5,600,000,” he explained.“If we calculate the difference in volume, it is about $1.5 billion dollars shortfall. We currently have just four Turkish firms who are members of the ICA. I believe we should definitely increase participation – if we do not participate on the ruling platform, we will not be a voice in the solution.”
Abdulkadir Kurtul, president of KASIAD, echoed Ertugrul’s message. He stated that Turkey and Kahramanmaras are in strong position in cotton and reminded delegates that,in the past, Turkey had a very important position in cotton production. “We really do not have any problem with consumption,” he said. “This shows our leadership in the textile business. But our country should be at a balance between production and consumption. The cotton is a strategic product to Turkey, therefore production problems must be solved if the voice of Turkish cotton producers is to be heard.”
ICA President, Cliff White and ICA Managing Director, Kai Hughes went on to deliver presentations that focused on the trading rules, contract agreements, arbitration and dispute resolution. During the open forum session, they took questions from the floor and reinforced the message that ICA Rules are not designed to limit trade – they serve as a guideline for the trade and are the basis of contract agreements.
Speaking after the summit Cliff White said: “We want to pass on our sincere thanks to everybody at KASIAD and to Ertugrul Tanriverdi for organising the event. We are very pleased with the number of delegates that attended and sincerely hope that, after today, they decide to join us. The overriding objective of the ICA is to promote contract sanctity through good trading practices. We can only truly achieve this through communication, education and engagement with participants across the industry spectrum and that is what this summit has been all about.”