Asia Fair Trade Summit 2018: What You Can Expect

If you haven’t reserved your Summit tickets yet or you’re still deciding whether or not to attend, here’s some more information about what you can expect…

We have a bumper speaker’s program planned for the Summit—from sessions on living wage tools and policy, right through to a talk on Fair Trade Education from WFTO Asia Member, Beautiful Coffee.

Not only is the Summit a great chance to learn about WFTO updates from our esteemed speakers, it’s also an opportunity to share your own knowledge at question time. We rely on having you, our Members, in the audience to contribute to discussions and raise your thoughts during these interactive sessions. Your real-life experiences are vital to making these sessions a success.

Much of our program this year is focused on practical skills and actionable advice to help you improve your business. We have sessions on topics as diverse as product design, labeling and branding, and entrepreneurship in Asia. If these are areas you’ve been wanting to improve on but maybe don’t know where to begin, here’s your chance to jump-start your efforts by learning from the experts.

As always, the Summit promises to attract a diverse audience. Buyers, wholesalers, designers, researchers, academics and consumers will all be gathered in the one place—making the Summit a totally unique opportunity to meet and build rapport with the kind of people who can help your business grow.

The WFTO Asia Market Place is always a highlight of the Summit. Bring along your new products and timeless favourites, and showcase anything exciting you’ve been working on since we last met.

On the final day of the Summit, we’ll be getting down to business with the WFTO Asia Board Election and AGM. These are necessary procedures—but they also provide a foundation and set the agenda for the years ahead. It’s vitally important that you, our Members, have your say. WFTO Asia prides itself on our democratic processes, and we need you be to there to participate.

Remember, we need at least half of all Members present for the AGM vote for any motions to go through. Don’t sit back—play an active role in shaping the future of our network and influence the direction of the global Fair Trade movement.

If you’ve been to a Summit before, then we don’t need to tell you how fantastic an opportunity these events are for networking. Put faces to the names, make sure your business is front-of-mind, and get to know the people behind WFTO at the same time. As well as formal country networking sessions, there will be endless opportunities for casual networking across the four days.

Some amazing partnerships and collaborations have come out of conversations at past Summits—we don’t want you to miss out! Although we saw each other just a short time ago in Delhi, we want you to take advantage of this chance to reconnect with acquaintances, rekindle old friendships, and meet the new Members who have joined the WFTO Asia family in the past year.

We couldn’t think of a better place than Nepal to host this year’s Summit!

If you haven’t been to this Himalayan nation before, here’s your chance to experience Nepal’s fascinating culture and pristine environment through the lens of Fair Trade. If you’re a local, we’re relying on you to come along and share your beautiful country with our international delegates.

The Summit includes an exciting cultural program. You will also have the chance to venture beyond Kathmandu as part of an optional sightseeing program with Fair Trade Nepal. Visit Chitwan for a wildlife encounter, relax in the lakeside city of Pokhara, or get a taste of trekking with a day hike to Chisapani. If you have limited time, we’re also offering several cultural tours of Kathmandu and nearby Patan and Bhaktapur.