Cotton for life

Cairo, 11 October 2015-  As a part of its CSR activities  ALEXBANK  - the Egyptian subsidiary of ISP Group – joined "Cotton for Life", an initiative in partnership with Filmar Nile Textile and the Egyptian Ministries of Agriculture and Education, whose aim is to promote Egyptian cotton and enhance the competitiveness of Egyptian cotton textiles in the global market. In cooperation with Intesa Sanpaolo Group - official global partner of Expo Milano 2015, the initiative objectives were presented at the Intesa Sanpaolo’s Pavilion "Waterstone". 

"Cotton for Life" aims to develop and apply environmental protocols to sustain Egyptian cotton industry, starting from its cultivation right up to the end product. The ultimate goal is to deliver high-quality exportable products that can compete in global markets. The presentation highlighted the importance of the Corporate Social Responsibility principles and their role in both social and sustainable development.

It was explained the significance of technical education and training and their crucial contribution to the cultivation of the long-staple Egyptian cotton to serve the development of textile industry. Conforming to international standards, students in agricultural and technical schools are trained on using advanced technological methods and modern textile machinery in order to attain high quality crops that qualify for global market competition. These schools will fall into the geographical scope of the cotton-growing areas so that technical and agricultural education can match the international demand for high end products. Moreover, the practical training and internships at the Filmar Nile Textile's industrial premises will work on enhancing youth employment.

"The initiative represents a significant, state of the art example of the fruitful economic cooperation between Egypt and Italy. In addition to the mutual experience shared between the two countries in the agriculture and textile sectors, the initiative works on promoting the Egyptian cotton worldwide by complying with international standards in order to qualify for global competition. ALEXBANK, in partnership with Intesa Sanpaolo, official global partner of Expo Milano 2015, promotes the initiative, which coincided with Milan Fashion Week. A group of fashion pioneers were invited to the initiative, in order to improve their understanding on the Egyptian cotton's quality and its ability to compete in global markets, in a framework of sustainable growth and balanced social development.", stated Marcello Sala, Executive Vice Chairman of Intesa Sanpaolo.

Top management from Intesa Sanpaolo Group, ALEXBANK and Filmar Nile Textile attended the exhibition named “EGYPTIAN COTTON AND SUSTAINABILITY: THE COTTONFORLIFE INITIATIVE”, Along with representatives from the Egyptian Ministry of Education and the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture, Hani El-Messeri Governor of Alexandria and other officials from UN agencies .

The 5 year agreement "“Cotton for life” project was launched to support the cultivation of Egyptian long staple cotton and the promotion of the textile industry at large. To achieve this, the provision of skilled labor and training on the use of advanced textile machinery is required. Thus, the agreement is meant to feed the development of students’ skills in agricultural schools as well as their training to the best cultivation methods of long staple cotton.