The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) elected Francisco Ferreira dos Santos as its chairman. The businessman and chairman of the Mozambican Cotton Association (AAM) will represent the world’s largest private cotton producers at the ICAC as well as the association of governments of producer, consumer and trading countries of that raw material.
According to Francisco Ferreira dos Santos, this election “is a very important moment for the country and for the cotton sub-sector in particular. As he explained, “although our dimension is insignificant in the global scale of cotton production and consumption, this election is a tacit recognition of our capacity to work and also a good opportunity for us to contribute, in an even more effective way, to the global development of the cotton value chain, and to elevate Mozambique’s brand”.
The main mission of the ICAC’s Private Sector Consultative Council is to promote communication between the private sector and ICAC members and to convey the concerns of the cotton industry throughout its value chain, from fibre production to its processing by the textile industry.
ICAC is an international and intergovernmental association of cotton producing and consuming countries, created in 1939 with the aim of establishing international cooperation in cotton matters.
That international organism, recognised as a partner by the United Nations, currently congregates 24 countries, including Mozambique since 2010, which represents the majority of the cotton produced and traded in the world.
The main function of the ICAC is to closely monitor events that affect the global cotton situation, compile and disseminate information on production, consumption, trade and prices and suggest measures that promote economic benefits for the cotton industry, as well as being a privileged forum for the debate of relevant issues for the sector. Its activities also include technical advice and the development of projects related to the cotton industry.
The Mozambican Cotton Association was set up in 1998 with the aim of promoting the interests of the sub-sector and of the companies holding concession contracts with the State to foster cotton growing, having become one of the associations with the greatest relevance and intervention at a national level.
