Lima, 21 November 2023 - At the end of this year the Textile Innovation Accelerator project participated in Expotextil Peru 2023. This project is developed under Component 1 of the AL-INVEST Verde programme by ASPEm in collaboration with the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Peru; SIC Spanish Association for Sustainability, Innovation and Circularity in Fashion; ADEC-ATC, Labour Association for Development and the National Society of Industries, with the support of the European Union. At the event, the project had the opportunity to share experiences and challenges with more than 200 people from companies and interested entities. With the aim of promoting sustainable growth in industry oriented towards the circular economy and the creation of green jobs.

Expotextil is an international trade fair for suppliers to the textile and clothing industry, which, in 2023, took place at the Jockey Exhibition Centre. Since its previous edition, Expotextil Peru has taken on the challenge of becoming more versatile and consolidating itself as the country's most complete information and commercial promotion platform in the textile and clothing sector. But above all, to incorporate in the same platform, the most important Guilds of the country and the micro, small, medium and large companies that include, within their productions, processes, technologies or others, part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This year, Expotextil proposed to implement and give greater relevance to a new perspective to the fair, promoting sustainability in the textile sector. There were multiple exhibitions and presentations on the subject, for which the director of ASPEm Peru, María Zevallos was invited to be part of the Sustainability in Fashion panel together with Augusto Montoya, cool hunter and trend analyst. The panel aimed to expose the new measures in the textile field for a transition towards a more responsible path with the environment and society.

We also highlight the participation of QAYA Cuero De Pescado Peruano and Killa Vive Verde, participating companies of the Textile Innovation Accelerator, who were present at the fair together with ASPEm, representing the project. Their innovation and creativity attracted the attention of many of the fair's attendees who showed interest and were surprised by the products and commitment to sustainability that both MSMEs demonstrated.

For ASPEm, being able to participate in Expotextil Peru with the Textile Innovation Accelerator project was one of the most rewarding experiences for the project, as it opened up networking opportunities with other entities that share the project's objective: working to generate change in the textile sector and those who make it up, as well as being able to contact businessmen and women who can participate in the project and form alliances between different actors.