The first SWITCH Asia roundtable and networking event will take place in Myanmar, March 30 to 31. It will focus on sustainable development of the garment and textile industry in Asia with Asian policymakers as well as garment industry associations, manufacturers and importers. It is being held in association with the International Labor Organization.

Discussions will center around sustainable supply chains; opportunities and challenges for a sustainable garment and textile sector in Asia; best practices with a potential for replication in Asia; the role of consumers; sustainable competitiveness strategies at the regional level; and the relation between the garment sector and sustainability, CSR and social development.

Keynotes include a presentation on regional strategies and changing dynamics to sustainably develop garment production. The sessions will also cover sustainability, productivity and factory issues in garment manufacturing targeting Asian and European markets, supply chain management for sustainability, sustainable consumption and production in the garment and textile industry, and maintaining competitiveness within and across regions.

Since 2008, the SWITCH Asia program has been supporting 16 grant projects in Asia’s textile and garment sectors, ranging from CSR to cleaner production, product labeling and certification. SWITCH Asia was launched in 2007. It promotes sustainable consumption and production among consumers, small and medium sized enterprises and Asian policy makers in 15 Asian countries, from China and India to Bangladesh and the Maldives.

www.switch-asia.eu/