Abit Congress 2016: current issues and future prospects

Workers, entrepreneurs, researchers, thinkers and other national and foreign professionals who interact with the reality of the textile and apparel industry will have the opportunity to address current issues and future prospects of the sector during the Abit Congress 2016, which takes place on June 1-2, in Sao Paulo. Biennially, the proposal of the meeting is to discuss topics that can change the business strategy.

“It will be a structured and organized forum of thought, discussion and debate regarding technological routes, and it is in line with the Textile 2030 study meeting, a referral of what should happen in the next 15 years”, says the CEO of Abit, Fernando Pimentel.

According to the executive, the topics covered in Abit Congress will be focused on companies. “We are not concerned in tracing global or national scenarios, although they are relevant. The macroeconomics vision will be placed in the context, but it will not be predominant as the themes related to innovation embedded in processes and materials, to the internationalization of Brazilian companies and to startups”, says Pimentel. “The whole world is discussing these issues and we cannot lag behind. We want the textile and apparel industry to be always at the head of these development and transformation processes in Brazil”.

Retailing is also featured in the event program. “This is an early protagonist, and thus should be treated. We will have specific panels to address what the consumer wants: fast or slow fashion? How does sustainability affect the buying decisions? How are the various sales channels revolutionizing the retail industry? What will the development of marketing in the coming years be like? All this is part of a global discussion, and we, at Abit, bring to light this obvious and clear agenda for the Brazilian society, for the developing policy makers, for influencers and for companies that are part of our industry”, says the CEO of the Association. “Moreover, the Congress will also feature two panels that will be integrated into the Innovation Forum, which will be in its third edition, in partnership with research organizations in Portugal”, he adds.

“The fact that Brazil is going through a very difficult time does not detract from our ability to develop and propose solutions, projects and actions that make our industry to be one of the growth resumption flagships”, adds the executive.