Nordic and Baltic Fashion and Textile Forum “Sustainability and New Markets”

On 13 April Riga will host the 1st Nordic and Baltic Fashion and Textile Forum “Sustainability and New Markets” held by the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Latvia, the Danish Cultural Institute in Latvia, the Latvian British Chamber of Commerce in the UK and the International Exhibition Company BT 1.

The forum aims to focus on strengthening the development of the fashion, design and textile industry in the Baltic Sea Region and to create a single platform to promote cooperation between fashion businesses and sustainable development of the fashion industry. The forum is also aimed to encourage a dialogue between the Nordic, Baltic, Russian, Chinese, Indian and UK industry representatives, thereby enhancing industry competitiveness and promoting new markets. This year the forum focus is on sustainability and new markets.

Chief Executive Officer of the Latvian British Chamber of Commerce in the UK and one of the initiators of the forum Mārcis Liors Skadmanis told that “This will be a significant event for the Baltic and Nordic fashion and textile industry in Latvia – a gathering of great minds, which drive the fashion industry within our region and beyond. I am confident that this forum will open up new doors and opportunities, discussing ideas to build a sustainable and profitable fashion business.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia sees the 1st Nordic & Baltic Fashion and Textile Forum as a great perspective and invites textile businesses from the world wide to take part in it. “Cooperation between the Baltic Sea States in the EU is an important element promoting the common EU economic growth, the development of new international projects and global economic growth. These findings are also revealed in the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, which allows us to effectively combine the region’s national expertise and resources building a common future,” Head of the Economic and Bilateral Relations Directorate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia Jānis Mažeiks explained.

The forum will bring together manufacturers, distributors, fashion experts and non-governmental organizations from Latvia, Norway, Sweden, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US. The participants will discuss the opportunities of promoting small and medium-sized companies, emerging fashion designers to the Scandinavian, UK, US and Russia’s markets. During the forum, sustainable business models and cooperation projects will be presented. See detailed programme at www.bt1.lv/intertextil

The participants of the forum – leading lingerie, apparel and textile manufacturers, distributors, buyers, retailers and investors from the Baltic countries, Scandinavia, Europe and the CIS as well as dozens of lingerie and textile manufacturers, the representatives of international retail networks from Western Europe and Scandinavia looking for both new suppliers and distributors have already registered their participation in the forum. The forum will be attended by the delegations of buyers and distributors from the Moscow and Pskov regions of Russia.

B2B Matchmaking event is an important part of the forum, which allows establishing new business contacts encouraging new deals both before and during the trade fair and forum. The Matchmaking platform gives a significant advantage to communicate with the registered participants of the trade fair and forum, to initiate discussions on different topics and continue further negotiations during the forum and trade fair days.

The 1st Nordic & Baltic Fashion and Textile Forum will take place at Kipsala International Exhibition Centre in Riga occurring simultaneously with the 17th International Textile Industry Trade Fair “Intertextil Balticum 2012” that is the year’s major professional textile industry event in the Baltic States. Apart of a regular exhibition, the fair will present fashion shows, the latest fashion collection presentations and the International Competition for Young Fashion Designers “Habitus Baltija 2012”.

Read more: www.bt1.lv/intertextil