WTO to Launch World Cotton Day on 7 Oct for the Cotton-4 of West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali)

Online registration for the WTO launch of World Cotton Day on 7 October 2019 is now open. The WTO will host the celebrations with the participation of senior government officials, international organisations, national cotton producers and textile industry professionals as well as private sector business executives. Registration closes on 20 September 2019.

World Cotton Day will celebrate the many advantages of cotton, from its qualities as a natural fibre to the benefits people obtain from its production, transformation, trade and consumption. The event will also serve to shed light on the challenges faced by cotton industries around the world, and particularly in least-developed countries (LDCs). 

The day's events will include:

· a plenary session with heads of state, heads of international organizations, ministers and high-level officials as well as industry and business leaders

· several thematic side events gathering public and private sector leaders and experts on cotton for informative discussions and networking

· a partners' conference organized to leverage resources and catalyse technical expertise specifically towards a new project on technology transfer for the development of cotton by-product value chains in eight pilot African LDCs

· an ITC fashion event to display cotton fashion and designers from different parts of the world with a special focus on Africa

· a cotton exhibition, display booths, a photo contest, a reception and live broadcasting of cotton celebrations around the world.

For registration and further information, please visit the dedicated webpage.

Background

At the initiative of the Cotton-4 (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali), the WTO will host the launch of World Cotton Day on 7 October 2019. This event stems from the C-4's official application for the recognition of a World Cotton Day by the United Nations General Assembly, reflecting the importance of cotton as a global commodity.

The WTO Secretariat is organizing the event in collaboration with the secretariats of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC). Other international organizations, non-governmental organizations, research and academic institutions and the private sector are also invited to participate.