Opening Address
Good morning, Annyeong-haseyo, Namaste
Dear Mr Park Won Soon, Mayor, Seoul Metropolitan City, Distinguished guests, Board members from WFTO Global and Asia office, fair trade promoters and advocates, friends from Korea and ladies and gentlemen.
It’s a great pleasure and pride for me to welcome you all to our WFTO Asia’s biennial conference on behalf of WFTO Asia, as President and all the fair traders around the globe.
First of all let me take take this opportunity to thank and extend our gratitude to Mr Mayor and the Government of Republic of Korea for their generosity in organizing this event in your beautiful city of Seoul and our Fair Trade friends from Korea, such as Junghwa Lee and others who have put their energy and time to make this conference a successful.
I am also equally indebted to large audience comprising of young people present in this hall for their participation and for supporting fair trade movement. Fair trade has a bright future if young generation have interest to take it forward further.
I would also like to thank Board members and CE from global office for their presence and support in organizing this event and our Secretariat staff too. My sincere thanks are due to Christine Gent, our ED for her tireless and dedicated work without which the conference would not have been so successful.
Similarly my appreciation and thanks are due to our members who have made tremendous efforts financially and physically to be present in this conference .
Ladies and gentlemen, fair trade is not all about trade. Of course it is a holistic trading system that seeks and speaks for greater justice to people who are marginalized producers, traders andconsumers. Fair trade is a movement that is by the people and for the people. We would like to make profit and be able to generate surplus which eventually will be invested on people, their capacity building and for better performance of the organization.
Fair trade started in early 1940s as a charity but now it has proved itself to be a successful business model and has been able to generate a total of US$ 6.3 billion business in the year 2012and provides employment to more than 1.3 million producers and farmers globally, spread in 1,149 Fair Trade producer organizations. The figure suggests that fair trade has its significant contribution in global gift and food market. However, there is more than enough room for everyone of us to grow bigger and bigger in the days to come.
Here is Asia we have over 120 member organizations based in 19 countries and growing every week.
Please visit our membership desk if you would like to know more about joining WFTO please come and talk to our staff on the desk during breaks. You can learn about the program that we have the Friends of Fair Trade, where individuals can sign up to support Fair Trade, and the Volonteer Internship Program where you can volunteer with one of our members.
Please also allow me to speak few words on new Fair Trade Guarantee system. WFTO Global has a mechanism in place now which will guarantee all its members and members’ products guaranteed products under our new Guarantee system. WFTO itself will not certify or guarantee but would have a pool of independent auditors from recognized Auditing Firms who will certify and guarantee. A product label with guaranteed fair trade products will always attract more consumers to our products. Once we have the label, we all can be proud that we are all guaranteed.
Lets all be together and lets work together whereby we can create a different world which is just for everyone. Together we can change the world. Fair trade is the only trade that can justify fairness for all that includes fair wages and conserves environment.
World Fair Trade Organization organizes a biennial conference in the Asia region every two years, it’s a opportunity for our members to meet and exchange with others in the Asia region. We invite you to join us in Bangkok in 2016.
Finally, I would like to thank you all for being here and making the event so colour, beautiful yet a successful one.
Thank you.
CHITRA BAHADUR KC
President