Around 400 textile industry players in Indonesia gathered to attend the 7th annual Cotton Day event. The event which took place at the Westin Hotel, Kuningan area, South Jakarta, Tuesday (26/9/2023) was part of a series of activities presented by Cotton Council International (CCI) with the aim of celebrating and providing important information about US cotton to industry players and factories in Indonesia. "The journey towards a smart cotton future starts with US cotton fiber," said Rio Hartanto Jap, CCI Representative for Indonesia, to journalists on the sidelines of the event.

"The sustainability, quality, transparency and innovation of U.S. cotton, including two business development programs such as Cotton USA Solutions and the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, clearly distinguish it as a superior fiber," Rio added.

Cotton Day participants were encouraged to increase production of yarn, fabric and garments using US cotton, thereby bringing their companies closer to the title "The Cotton The World Trusts."

In addition, the Cotton USA event, held at the Westin Hotel Jakarta, also featured various activities, including seminars, a US cotton exhibition, networking forums, and a fashion show using US cotton. The participants who took part in this event included various leading factories, brands and fashion designers in Indonesia.

A number of partners participated in this event, including Argo Manunggal X Project Sekar, Duniatex, Apac Inti Corpora, Bateeq, Samase, Mega Perintis, Lucky Print, Hakatex, and Indo Liberty Textile.

Not only that, Cotton Day also featured presentations from six experts in the US cotton industry, including Bruce Atherley, Executive Director of CCI; Razvan Oancea, Senior Director Asia CCI; Joerg Bauersachs, Cotton USA Technical Team Leader; Hopie Brooks, Staplcotn Director of Export Sales; Alan Vinson, Texas Chief Trader, ECOM USA, LLC; and Neeraj Rana, CCI Board Director and Cotton Merchant, Louis Dreyfus Company.

Participants were also given insight into how to achieve maximum performance with US cotton through Cotton USA Solutions. The program provides five business development programs that demonstrate how using US cotton can increase productivity, efficiency and profitability.

The Cotton USA Solutions program is available free of charge to US Cotton Trust Protocol members who meet US cotton purchasing requirements. The Cotton Trust Protocol itself is a science-based, voluntary sustainability program at the farm level, which sets new standards in delivering value throughout the supply chain, from farm to finished product.

The Cotton Trust Protocol is the only system that provides verifiable goals and measurements, and drives continuous improvement in six key metrics, namely land use, soil carbon, water management, erosion, greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency. The program is also the world's first sustainable cotton fiber program to offer article-level supply chain transparency to all its members.

"US Cotton is at the forefront of the journey towards a smart cotton future," said Rio Hartanto Jap. "Factories in Indonesia have a great opportunity to increase their business with US cotton, and CCI (Cotton Council International) is ready to help," he continued.

The 7th Cotton Day in 2023 seems to be an important forum for textile industry players in Indonesia to understand more deeply the role of US cotton in the development of a sustainable and innovative textile industry.