The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) and the International Apparel Federation (IAF) are jointly holding their annual convention together for the first time from September 8-10 2024.

This year’s venue is the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, in cooperation with the Uzbek Textile and Apparel Industry Association, and the theme is Cooperation and Regulation – Drivers of the Textile and Apparel Industry.

The joint convention will bring together the entire supply chain, including raw material suppliers, spinners, weavers, machine suppliers, garment and home textile manufacturers, brands, retailers, solution providers and academics. Industry experts and leaders will discuss the relevance of innovation, cooperation and regulation for the industry and how they will influence and shape the future. It will also introduce the Uzbek textile and garment industry to the rest of the world, providing a good view of this industry, both during the conference programme and during planned factory visits.

Uzbekistan was known as one of the major cotton producers in the world but in the last 10-15 years has turned from being a major cotton exporter to a cotton importing country. During this time, it has developed a textile and apparel industry that is at an exciting early stage of rapid development.

IAF and ITMF are organising their annual convention together out of a strong conviction that the apparel and textile industries need to jointly discuss collective solutions to common industry challenges. A reduction of the environmental footprint of textile and apparel products, for example, happens at the level of the fibre producers, spinners, weavers, knitters, finishers and printers. The information needed to fill a Digital Product Passport or to run a 3D digital design and development operation meanwhile requires an effective flow of information between all segments of the textile and apparel value chain.

Samarkand will also be the beautiful historic backdrop for the convention’s social events, including a gala dinner and a city tour.

www.itmf-iaf-conference-2024-samarkand.org