ICAC’s Townsend: East and West Must Resolve Cultural, Political Differences

By Jim.Robinson|March 1, 2012

The rise of China and the entire Asian region have brought about a new transition phase for the cotton and textile industries – one that will require a greater level of stakeholder interaction than has been needed in the past, according to Terry Townsend, executive director of the International Cotton Advisory Committee and featured guest speaker at the Cotton International 2012 Global Summit.

The cultural and political differences between the rising Eastern powers and their Western counterparts make frequent – and personal – interaction more important than it has been in the past.

“The Global Cotton Summit is a forum for cultural interaction as well as information exchange, and can help market participants come to similar understandings of major cotton issues,” says Townsend, who will deliver his World Cotton Overview on the second day of the Summit, which will be held at the Landmark Bangkok Hotel from April 25-27.

“Asia dominates mill use of cotton and will [continue to] during the next decade,” Townsend continues. “However, many developing Asian countries have weak traditions of rule of law, some of the largest Asian cotton importers are planned economies, and Asian countries do not participate in multilateral organizations with the same frequency as Europe, the United States and Japan. Accordingly, there are many areas of disagreement and clashes of self interest between traditional centers of cotton production and consumption and the newer Asian centers.”For more information on the Cotton International 2012 Global Summit, please visit www.cottonglobalsummit.com