ITFC holds first African-Asian Cotton B2B Meeting

ITFC co-hosted the B2B Meeting along with the Bangladesh Textile Mill Association and Bangladesh Cotton Association.

The International Islamic Trade Financing Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, organized its first African-Asian Cotton B2B Meeting event as part of its Cotton Development and Partnership Program. The meeting took place in Dhaka’s Westin Hotel.
ITFC co-hosted the B2B Meeting along with the Bangladesh Textile Mill Association and Bangladesh Cotton Association.
The event was inaugurated by Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, minister of finance, Bangladesh, and chairman of the IDB board of governors; and Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO of ITFC. The meeting was attended by West African cotton producers, the African Cotton Association, the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, the Bangladesh Cotton Association, and Bengali Spinning/Textile Mills.
The meeting aimed at supporting the Bangladeshi textile industry, which is an important source of employment and export earnings for the country’s economy. ITFC was able to act as a bridge between the Asian countries, especially Bangladesh and Indonesia, and develop new business partnerships with African cotton suppliers.
Thanking Baba Berthe, president of African Cotton Association, CEOs, and representatives of West African cotton ginning companies for being part of the meeting, Sonbol said: “ITFC is thankful to its strategic partners for co-hosting this important business development event for OIC’s cotton industry. ITFC, as the trade finance and development arm of the IDB Group, brings businessmen together from its member countries and provides them with a platform to develop new business partnerships to benefit from direct trade linkages between cotton exporting countries and the Bangladeshi textile industry.”
Finance minister Abdul Muhith said: “This meeting has opened doors for our cotton importers to develop trade ties with African suppliers. With the current challenging economic environment and the increasing competition, ITFC has given us a chance to reach out to new destinations.”
Calik Cotton sponsored the meeting as the event’s strategic partner. Calik Cotton supplies cotton of different origins to major local and international textile industrialists.
ITFC is recognized as the leading trade financier for cotton in West Africa. As such, it is mandated to facilitate and promote intra-trade among OIC member countries.