A look at Hamso event, organized by Iran Garment Industry Association

Hamso event was held on June 3, 1402 by the Iranian Garment Industry Association, with a group of textile industry activists and clothing retail business owners in one of Bamland’s outdoor amphitheaters. One of the goals of this event was to establish communication between the separated parts of the textile and clothing chain; which have operated as two separate circles in the last four decades due to conflict of interests. But now, despite the problems and wrong economic policies and successive inflations, in order to overcome the current difficult conditions, the need for the alignment of these two areas is felt to be extremely necessary and necessary. Therefore, in this gathering, due to the volume, variety and continuity of the problems of Iran’s garment industry, a multi-axis dialogue panel was designed in the form of friendly advice and nudges, which explained the upcoming opportunities and threats for the attendees.

Resilience and development

“Resilience is a familiar word for Iranian clothing industry activists, especially in the last two decades. Also, without the development of a birth certificate, any business is considered invalid. We live in a dual situation, on the one hand, resilience is our road map and life, and on the other hand, without development, the logic of any business will be distorted.” Therefore, the name of this panel was named “Resilience and Development”, which was divided around several main axes:

• Business environment
• The importance of plans and budgets and financial organizations in companies
• Organizational architecture and executive systems
• Brand identity
• Cooperation and concentration

Business environment

Mr. Javanroud, the manager of Wind Spinner, believes that “no organization can progress more than the knowledge of the owner of that organization; Therefore, the need to improve the quality of this environment is to increase the knowledge of its owners and managers.” In this regard, the association has offered workshops to solve some of the problems of this industry.

The importance of the plan and budget and financial organizations

In the discussion of financial organizations, Mr. Hakopian pointed out that brands and manufacturers can accept the payment of taxes, but in return for this payment, workers and employees are expected to receive adequate welfare services from the government.

But in the conversations we had with Mr. Pishbin (financial manager and expert in tax systems), we were able to receive an answer to this criticism. Mr. Peshbin believes that: “We are a developing country and we need more time for tax feedback. Although this tax system is not unique to our country and we should not expect that in exchange for taxes; We will see the result immediately, but the owners of the industry can make demands if they pay the tax, and considering that Iran is developing, this tax will gradually improve social conditions.”

Iran’s garment industry should move towards paying taxes in order to attract more capital, attract trust and ultimately develop financially. So tax systems are not meant to destroy the private sector. Rather, they are designed to become more transparent and develop the industry, and this tax is a small part of the company’s profit. But in case of escaping from it, with possible fines, companies may go bankrupt.

In addition, if the doors are opened to the international clothing industry, it will be difficult to compete or cooperate with international brands even though the brands do not have a transparent financial organization and the tax laws are not properly followed. As a result, planning to act more transparently in the financial and tax system should be on the agenda of brands.

Even if the current conditions continue and the market is limited to domestic brands, a transparent financial system makes the company’s capital circulate, and transparent reports help you hire more professional financial managers who work with transparent organizations.

Furthermore, Mr. Golchobian said about the importance of the plan and budget: “Based on the plan and budget, determine production and sales, when the market is booming, don’t enter the market with optimism.” The best guide for any company is the plan and budget.

Organizational architecture and executive systems

In the discussion of organizational architecture and executive systems, the speaker of the panel, Mohammad Ali Golchobian, emphasized that most of the obstacles to development in Iran’s garment and textile industry are weak systems and poor performance of senior and middle managers.

Managers have an old way of thinking and rely on traditional principles of management. On the other hand, the new generation, or Z generation, will soon have to work as colleagues and managers in the industry, while now they have very little role in the final decisions, and with these old executive systems, we cannot create a modern industry. Let’s deliver the next generation.

In other words, the path of development has been smooth so far, but for resilience, survival, and continuing the path of progress, we must be more flexible and not let what we criticize dominate us.

identity

One of the most important axes of the Hamso event was the discussion of identity. In the topic of branding identity, panel speakers criticized the performance of Iranian clothing brands. In this discussion, it was stated that it seems that most of the big retail brands in Iran’s clothing space imitate successful foreign examples in their advertising campaigns and packaging, and the design style of the clothes are similar in such a way that if we don’t look at the brand or clothing brand, all the showcases are similar. are each other

In addition, mindless imitation of trends has made Iranian motifs and designs rarely seen in clothing items, while maisons and small brands as well as international brands are inspired by traditional Iranian art.

In the field of brand products, Ms. Majlesi, a clothing designer, believes that the frameworks and rules of aesthetics are changing, and today, due to the presence of the Internet, people from different cultures come together, and this mutual influence makes us sometimes need to imitate in order to survive.

But imitating trends has principles. We should take advantage of trends based on our own brand value and identity and consumer behavior. So, the more we know the audience of our brand, the more successful we are in this field. We must be able to recognize the intellectual, social and cultural atmosphere of our society and act on its basis.

Cooperation and concentration

Finally, in the last axis, which was cooperation and focusing on the capacities of activists in this field, it was emphasized that the clothing market is a connected chain and the performance of each brand in cooperation with each other is necessary to overcome social, economic and political crises. Despite having differences and competition, brands should move together, take advantage of each other’s capacities and reach an alignment for growth to happen.

And the last word…!

Despite all the ups and downs, if we compare the conditions of the clothing industry of the neighboring countries and the countries of the Persian Gulf (those that were considered to be the goal for them in a distant time to reach the conditions and position of Iran) with the current conditions of Iran’s clothing, unfortunately, it is in a worthy position.

We have not been placed, but if we realistically examine our own clothing industry in the last four decades with regard to the production infrastructure, the prosperity and diversity of the market and the social changes that we are witnessing, although it is insignificant, this trend has been growing. But for the further growth and development of this industry, in addition to raising knowledge, managers should also trust young and worthy people in this field and provide space for the activities of these novice but expert activists. Also, creating basic systems and structures and forming a professional board of directors is one of the obligations for the development of this industry. In addition, considering that the clothing industry is one of the most dependent industries on the social conditions and mood of the people, they should understand the spirit of the times and pay attention to the needs of the new generation, and instead of trying to prevent smuggling, with diversity in design and promotion Quality in the true sense of creating loyal customers.

Also, in order to raise the level of knowledge of managers and activists, holding educational workshops of associations and open courses of universities should be presented according to global standards and with current topics and teach fishing instead of fish. Otherwise, this route becomes just a new channel for earning money and abusing the existing conditions.

In general, it was better to hold the same event, both in terms of the quality of the performance and in terms of the topics discussed, and the communication between the invitees compared to the previous similar events, but only the venue was not chosen correctly, because due to the open space of the amphitheater, the voice The surroundings of Bamland, such as the amusement park and the music of the nearby restaurants, disturbed the listeners’ concentration.