OUTLOOK Asia fulfils its promises
EDANA, the international association representing the global nonwovens and related industries, closed its third OUTLOOK™ Asia conference in Singapore. It was delivering two days of presentations from economists, product and technology specialists, a review of the challenges to the industry of managing the waste that comes from the end of life of our products, and the actions EDANA and its member companies are taking to address these questions
Opening the conference, Pierre Wiertz, General Manager of EDANA stated “Since the late 1990s, strong income growth in Asia has been transforming the global income distribution. As Max Roser, founder of ‘Our World in Data’ has stated, while there are challenges, world income is heading in the right direction and the once poorest countries now have the highest growth, and here in South-East Asia, other pre-requisites for creating attractive markets for personal care products are met. In the complex, and admittedly uncertain economic and geo-political climate of our world today, EDANA is dedicated to providing forums like this to deliver our common objective to contribute to the sustainable growth of the global nonwoven hygiene and personal care products industries.”
Participants highlighted their delight at the event, especially with the growing representation and attendance of regional professionals. Additionally, the range and coverage of topics presented by speakers was regarded as a positive reflection on the state of the Asian Pacific region, recognising both the opportunities for growth of the industry, and its responsibility not just to its consumers, but to our broader society.
The conference attracted 155 delegates, and an audience representing companies from 23 countries, with more than 90 professionals from the Asia Pacific and Australia. The conference included the second edition of the OUTLOOK™ Asia Award, which recognises a product or service that has been developed for or in the Asia Pacific region, including the Indian subcontinent, which highlights a shortlist of companies, and then asks the representatives of the industry to vote for the winning company.
EDANA will continue to support its member companies and partners across the region, including its global partner the Asian Nonwovens Fabrics Association (ANFA). The next opportunity of such a support will be the ANFA Indonesian seminar as part of the Indonesia International Technical Textile and Nonwovens Exhibition in Jakarta in April 2016.