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Business Networking Forum 2010
 A major highlight of the Fabrics & Accessories Trade Show was the Business Networking Forum that had the cream from the industry to address critical issues that affected the textile value chain.
“The BNF was a unique networking forum provider and offered a conference-cum-interaction platform with a difference,” said Dr. P.R. Roy, Chairman, Business Networking Forum who is also Member-Board of Directors of Malwa Group and NSL Textiles.
The 3 topics discussed by high-powered panels were as follows:
Day-1, 4th June 2011: Deciphering the Unique Identity (USP) of the Textiles & Clothing Industry in India and the sub-continent
In the opening session was chaired by Dr Darlie O’Koshy, Director-General of Institute of Apparel Management, Ravi Toshniwal (Joint MD of Banswara Syntex) identified product innovation as India’s strength while Shreyas Joshi (President, Raymond Apparel) expressed confidence in Indian companies’ ability to compete effectively through a combination of product development, quality and customer service. Harminder Sahni (MD, Wazir Advisors) expressed a concern that possibly other than polyester, not enough fundamental research and development was being done on other fibre categories.
Day-2, 5th June 2011: Integrated Supply Chain for the Textiles and Clothing Industry – how to get there?
In the session chaired by Vikram Rao (Business Director, Acrylic Fibre & Overseas Spinning, Aditya Birla Group), the panel discussed extensively on the divide between various links in the apparel and textiles value chain; Ashish Kumar (Business Head, Integra Apparel) emphasizes on following a transparent standard minute costing approach while Christopher Hogg (Group CEO, Sildorex Lurex) spoke on the usage of metallized yarns in industrial manufacturing.
The second session of the day was chaired by Bijou Kurien (President & Chief Executive of Lifestyle Business of Reliance Retail) debated why apparel & lifestyle brands in India are still relatively small in size as compared to developed countries. J Suresh (CEO of Arvind Brands) and Arun Sirdeshmukh (President & CEO, Apparel Business, Reliance Trends) both were in agreement that growth of brands had concentrated on a small upper income segment in a few of the larger cities. Devangshu Dutta (Third Eyesight) said there is a tremendous opportunity if costing and pricing breakthroughs can be achieved.
Day-3, 6th June 2011: Public-Private Partnership in Clothing & Textiles: Is the Convergence desirable? If yes, to what extent is it feasible” Are we heading for Social Marketing in India?
The session, chaired by HS Bhaskar (CEO, Gokak Textiles) had participation by the Textiles Commissioner of Karnataka, besides other industry experts. The final session of the BNF was on Social Marketing, which was chaired by Prof Atanu Ghosh of IIM-Ahmedabad.
Speakers in all the three sessions included leading industry players from India and overseas. (Log on to http://www.bnf.co.in) for more details. Details of the deliberations will be made available online soon).
The first Business Networking Forum (BNF) that was held as part of the 2008 edition of F&A, brought together various segments of the textile value chain from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
BNF provides industry leaders to understand and update themselves on happenings in the global textile and apparel market, as well as to assess the challenges and explore opportunities and synergies that could benefit them individually and the region collectively.
Speakers at the BNF will comprise industry leaders from India and overseas.
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