ITC, ICS tie up to help Moroccan textile value chain
The International Trade Centre (ITC) has partnered with ICS, which represents several European textile
retailers, to strengthen competitiveness and climate resilience in the
Moroccan textile value chain. The project’s launch coincided with an
April 10-12 meeting in Casablanca that brought together Moroccan,
French, German and Spanish textile representatives.
Geneva-headquartered
ITC is a multilateral agency with a joint mandate with the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) and the United Nations (UN) through the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
In addition to the
Moroccan textile sector, the ‘Strengthening Competitiveness through
Climate Resilience in International Value Chains’ project will focus on
the Kenyan agri-food sector, according to an ITC press release.
The
interventions aim at improving the risk management of Moroccan textile
suppliers and Kenyan coffee and tea suppliers, supporting companies to
integrate climate-change considerations in their risk analysis and
helping them to create climate adaptation plans.
Adapting to
climate change is a serious challenge for governments, businesses and
communities. Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly in
developing countries, see their operations facing increasing volatility
due to climate change related impacts such as increased prices for raw
materials, energy and water, and but also degraded transport routes and
processing facilities as a result of heavy rainfalls or drought, the
press release said.
To
be implemented by ITC’s Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD)
programme, the project is financed by the German Federal Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Crucial to the
project is the participation of European companies that will take an
active role in the project. These buyers have identified participating
suppliers, participated in sensitization workshops and will take part in
a selection of customized coaching sessions together with their
respective suppliers.
Companies
participating through the partnership with ICS include Camaïeu,
Carrefour, Damartex, IDKids, La Halle and Naf Naf of the Vivarte group,
La Redoute, Monoprix, Orsay and Promod. (DS)
Source: The Economic Times, India Saturday, 21 April 2018