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“The Textile industry has a guaranteed place in the future. It depends only of our imagination, of our work and our determination, so that the success in the past converts itself into a greater one in the future” said Mário Jorge Machado, ATP’s president, at the opening session of ITMF Convention 2019, held this week in Oporto, under the overall theme “Digitalization & Sustainability – their impact on the global textile industry” .
“The textile industry in Portugal has proven to be an international case study of success, and many other manufacturing activities, even geographic scattered, wish to imitate on the pursuit of an identical achievement”, added Mário Jorge speaking to the 347 delegates, from 34 countries, participating in the convention.
ATP’s president remembered that after having suffered successive and dramatic competitive shocks, between 2001 and 2008, the Portuguese textile industry managed to re-invent itself with new and more value drivers, like design, technological innovation and intensive service – and also became increasingly international, especially on the market’s more demanding segments.
“If we were to summarize this transformation we could say that, in the last ten years, it shifted from competition based on price to competition based on value. The industry no longer is an order taker, but is rather an active solution provider to the client”, said Mário Jorge.
“Some people say textile is the greatest business in the world, always growing, expanding to new areas – which not so long ago were not even identified. Textiles are everywhere and will increase their presence because they answer to human necessities, in the way any other material or productive activity can with equal efficacy”, concluded ATP’s president.