As the new President of International Apparel Federation (IAF) for the next two years (2014-2016), Rahul Mehta, President has chalked out an active roadmap for the association. There are several new initiatives that Mehta aims to introduce during his term. This includes increasing the interaction among members, organizing Asia specific buyer-seller meets, facilitating students to take up internship programs among others.
Plans to further establish IAF positioning
Mehta who is also the president of Clothing Manufacturers Association of India, is looking to boost the Association with various initiatives. “My first goal is to increase interaction between members and the secretariat and provide more information. I am planning to tie-up with an agency in India, which will prepare a quarterly or monthly report on the industry across the world and share it with our members. We have tie-ups with international trade publications but these tend to be commercial in nature. Now, I want a non-commercial venture. An agency will do research and analysis out of its own resources and distribute it to members,” explains Mehta, elaborating on the goals, he is looking to implement immediately.
He feels merely being a member of IAF is not enough, association members should also 
benefit from IAF activities. The Netherlands-based IAF, is a federation of the national clothing associations of nearly 50 countries, including the US, UK, Europe, Japan, China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, among others. It represents over 150,000 companies who provide products and services to the apparel industry. Each country is represented by only one industry association which is invited to be a member of the federation.
Elaborating further he says, “I am hoping to organise buyer-seller trade meet ‘A2A-Asia to Asia’. There are international students who want to work in Indian or Chinese companies. There could be some exchange program to benefit them. Fashion students from the UK or the US may undertake an internship with Indian brands and vice-a-versa. IAF can probably act as a facilitator for such activities.”
Talking about the importance of IAF activities, Mehta says, “The associations interact with each other under one roof. So you can understand the economies, markets, policies of each country. And through the associations you can submit your views and suggestions to those economies and you can somehow also influence the policies of those countries. While we don’t represent any government and can’t enforce our views beyond a point, it helps in better coordination and cooperation between different countries. The federation consists of buying nations and supplying nations. So it’s a bridge where the concerns of both are addressed.”
Giving examples, he points that though Accord and Alliance are from the Europe and the US and working independently in Bangladesh, IAF has been invited to be an impartial coordinator between these two. “We have a global responsibility committee which addresses the concerns of manufacturing countries. One issue we are taking up is audit fatigue. For instance, a large manufacturing unit in Sri Lanka goes through 300 audits a year, which means an audit almost every day. Does it make sense? Is it needed? It may not be practical to aim at just one global program. But IAF is trying to create some common features so that individual buyer audits can be restricted to just a few of their requirements.”
Under his leadership, IAF is trying to create a formal structure for information sharing, under which if an association is a member of IAF, it has a payment dispute with a buyer who is also a member of IAF, then one can address the issue through IAF. Also, so far most international fairs have been between the west and south-east Asia. “But there is very little Asia to Asia trade exchange. IAF is trying to do something about this,” he avers.
There is a technology committee that strives to continuously update the industry on latest technological developments across the world. IAF is trying to explore whether it can be looked at from the apparel perspective. IAF discussed RFID technology before any retailer or a brand invested in it. The virtual trial room was also discussed three years back, so IAF plans to help members update on the technological developments. “IAF can become a useful networking platform, where members can meet people from the same industry and explore opportunities,” Mehta sums up.
