For immediate release

19 March 2015

The 10th anniversary Prime Source Forum gets set for international trade development beyond 2015

After its debut in 2006, Prime Source Forum (PSF) will celebrate its 10th anniversary from 24^th-25^th March this year at the Holiday Inn Golden Mile Hong Kong, emphasising its role as a prime source of information and a meeting point for leaders and decision makers in the textiles, apparel and fashion industry.

During the two-day Forum, participants involved in textile fabrication and apparel manufacturing regions, and fashion retail markets will discuss the world’s trade development and its impact on their industries.

PSF was initiated to echo the quota elimination transiting from 2006 to 2010, and further established itself during the financial crises and economic shifts from 2010 to 2015. From 2015 onwards international trade development of the industries is their key focus.

The Forum will again cover trends in textile material technology and sustainability, through apparel sourcing decisions and cost reduction efforts and their implications on fashion and retailing.

This year, the main focus will be on Africa and opportunities for apparel production in emerging countries like Kenya.  The Forum will also follow up on Bangladesh and what has been achieved since last year’s discussion, as well as an overview of PSF’s satellite event held in China in autumn 2014.

‘The Forum draws the potential from its ongoing support of the industry’s world leaders who like to come and share their ideas, opinions and experiences within this exclusive circle,’ pointed out Martin Keil, Managing Director of YEH SHEN Ltd who licensed PSF in 2013 from UBM Asia.  ‘Its beauty lies in the fact that the PSF platform is financially independent and it can be adjusted according to participant needs,’ added Keil.

Hong Kong provides an ideal platform for events like PSF which benefits from the full support of the local government.  Hon. Godfrey Leung, Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, will kick off the Forum with a welcome address to greet the audience from over 20 countries, on behalf of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

With the support of industry experts, distinguished speakers such as Hon. Adan Mohamed, the Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Industralisation and Enterprise Development who comes to Hong Kong from Kenya to offer a Keynote Address at PSF2015, in addition to high-calibre executives of multinational organisations, such as adidas, APL Logistics, Bayer MaterialScience, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Business Social Compliance Initiatives (BSCI),  Lanier Clothes, Larimode, New Balance, Otto Group, PVH, TAL Group, Under Armour, VF and many more from four continents across the globe, who will share their wisdom with the audience over the two days.

‘The Generation C’s consuming culture remains a powerful change on sourcing strategies challenging the current sourcing models,’ commented Robert Sinclair, Chief Operating Officer of Li & Fung Trading who gave advice on the PSF2015 topics.

A panel providing solutions to overcoming these massive changes will be chaired by the KPMG director, Pat Woo who will guide the audience with his panelists and discuss trend and demand projection, product strategy, inventory control and replenishment, and logistic arrangement.

TAL Group, renowned for its innovative manufacturing of garments and its cutting-edge demand forecasting models, will have the Vice President of one of its subsidiaries, Weave Services Ltd, Fred Lemoine to advise executives on their manufacturing strategies – to move their manufacturing out of China or keep it there but with new conditions.  He will compel the audience with his presentation which will include insightful analysis.

In the past, suppliers hung on American and European markets, but prevailing economic regulations in the US and the anxiety in the Euro Zone make them look for new opportunities in emerging countries despite potential risks.  ‘Solutions to apparel sourcing in view of the changing global retailing landscape in the industry’ will be discussed in the afternoon of the first day of the Forum.

‘China, the largest supplier to the world, is reducing its involvement with low value industries. Bangladesh, an important player in the industry, is getting more expensive by the day.  Who is going to replace these two major suppliers?’ expressed Rahul Mehta, President of the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) and also President of the International Apparel Federation based in Maastricht, the Netherlands, who will join the panel discussion on the afternoon of 24^th March.

‘The sourcing zone moved from West to East, from Far East to South East Asia, and potentially from here to Africa.  What’s next?  It is time for the West to look at the cost of selling instead of just focusing on cost of purchase.’  Mehta added, ‘There are two contradictory patterns emerging in the international apparel trade.  On one hand, the continuous pressure on prices is compelling buyers to keep shifting to newer and lower cost countries, resulting in less efficient production with perhaps longer sourcing cycles.  On the other hand, uncertain demand, reduced margins and low risks push them to source closer to the markets, perhaps at higher costs. The question is where and how to strike the ideal balance.  Perhaps the time has come for the industry to factor the cost of compliance and improving standards in their product pricing.’

After hearing about the macro issues for the whole day on 24^th March, the Global Apparel, Footwear and Textile Initiative (GAFTI) will continue to drive the audience to their ‘2020 Vision’ in the last session of the day.

‘Our ultimate goal is to bring together stakeholders of the textiles, apparel, footwear and fashion supply chain industries to improve efficiency and set standards globally.  We want to reduce complexity, remove costs from common industry practices and drive transparency.  Collaboration among the industry will hopefully lead to a more focused approach to setting standards that create a win-win situation for everyone engaged in the supply chain,’ said GAFTI’s Chairman, Robert Sinclair who is also Chief Operating Officer of Li & Fung Trading.

GAFTI who is sponsoring PSF’s Cocktail Reception will, for the first time, move their Annual General Meeting to PSF2015.

To complement GAFTI’s vision, Bayer MaterialScience’s Nicholas Smith will share how technology and chemistry can work together to achieve positive impact on the supply chain.

On the morning of the second day, the Forum will delve into sourcing and offshore production in Africa.  William Marshall, the trade agreement specialist from Baker & McKenzie will examine the financial benefits and deficiencies of offshore production, in view of worldwide geo-political instability and outbreak of infectious diseases.

The panel will follow with a debate on the role of Africa becoming the future global sourcing hub.  Executives from PVH and VF buying offices will share their experiences of exploring the production opportunities in southern Africa and areas the executives must pay attention to.  Meriem Larini, Chief Executive Officer of Larimode, a developed manufacturing company in Morocco, northern Africa, will show the audience their challenges in becoming one of the top suppliers.

On the afternoon of 25^th March, the Forum will be engaged in responsible sourcing.  Dr. Gong Yan from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, involved in policy formulation, will interpret the new measures about the Chinese government’s plans to inspect all garments before importing to and exporting from their country.

‘The only country where I am aware of such regulations existing is Japan with their ‘JIS Mark’ which exporters apply for in order to prove their product quality. Are such regulations followed in a voluntary or mandatory way?’ challenged Hans Buehr, former purchasing head of Triumph and now Executive Director of the Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries Association.

‘Are testing and inspection agencies ready for this change?’ added Sangem Hsu, President of Centre Testing International.  Sangem Hsu will join Dr. Gong, Hans Buehr and other panelists to discuss the impacts of this new Chinese legislation on fashion sourcing activities.

To follow up with the progress of labour working conditions in Bangladesh, Md. Atiqul Islam, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association will join other panelists who are representatives of Accord and Alliance, who signed two agreements with the Bangladesh government after the Rana Plaza collapse in Dhaka in spring 2013, to form the best solutions for the Bangladeshi factories to follow.   Thomas Nelson of VF and Maren Barthel of the Otto Group will be the session panelists moderated by Christian Ewert of BSCI who can share his past experiences in corporate responsibility from other industries.

Some of the senior executives who have signed up to attend PSF2015 include representatives from adidas, BSCI, BV, Coats, Control Union, Cotton Council, Crocs, Euro Centra, Groz-Beckert, HUGO BOSS, Lanier Clothes/Oxford, Lidl, M&S, Marc O’Polo, Mast Industries/Victoria Secrets, MGB Metro, New Balance, Otto, Perry Ellis, PVH, QuikSilver, Ralph Lauren, SgT, Target, Tesco, TÜV Süd, Under Armour, Uniqlo, VF, Woolmark, and WRAP.

A cocktail reception to celebrate PSF’s 10^th anniversary will be held on the evening of 24^th March 2015 in Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel.

Visit primesourceforum.com or click here for more details.  For press enquiries, contact Ms. Josephine Ching | Event Director | T: +852 3478 3767 | E: josephine@yehshen.com

About the Organisers

Prime Source Forum (PSF) was initiated by APLF in 2006 to address the issue of quota elimination in the apparel industry.  After its staging in the industry for eight years, PSF is now organised by YEH SHEN Ltd under licence of APLF.

APLF Ltd is a joint-venture between UBM Asia Ltd and the SIC Group of France. For over two decades, Hong Kong-based APLF Ltd has been providing the global leather and fashion industries with its most important meeting and trading places.

Owned by UBM plc listed on the London Stock Exchange, UBM Asia is Asia's leading exhibition organiser and the biggest commercial organiser in mainland China, India and Malaysia. With its headquarters in Hong Kong and subsidiary companies across Asia and in the US, UBM Asia has a strong global presence in 24 major cities with 30 offices and 1,300 members of staff.

With a track record spanning over 30 years, UBM Asia operates in 20 market sectors with 230 dynamic face-to-face exhibitions and high-level professional conferences, 23 targeted trade publications, 20 round-the-clock online products for over 1,000,000 quality exhibitors, visitors, conference delegates, advertisers and subscribers from all over the world. We provide a one-stop diversified global service for high-value business matching, quality market news and online trading networks.

UBM Asia has extensive office networks in China, Southeast Asia and India, three of the world’s fastest growing B2B events markets. UBM China has 11 offices in the major cities in mainland China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Guzhen and Shenzhen, where we organise more than 90 exhibitions and conferences. In ASEAN, UBM Asia operates from its offices in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines with over 40 events in this region.  UBM India teams in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai organise 40 exhibitions and conferences every year across the country.

SIC Group SIC Group is part of the Conseil National du Cuir (The French Leather Council CNC) – the representative of the leather profession in France.

Josephine Ching, who has been in charge of PSF under the organisation of UBM Asia Ltd from 2007-2013, is now Event Director of YEN SHEN Ltd which has been incorporated in Hong Kong since 2006.  Since October 2013, PSF has been organised by YEH SHEN Ltd under licence of APLF.

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