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Stephen Timms MPAsian Dreams Fashion Event |
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It is a great job being the Minister responsible for the textiles industry because it means I have the chance to be at events like this from time to time. It is also an important job because textiles and clothing accounts for around 0.7% of the entire gross domestic product of the country, it provides jobs for around a quarter of a million people and last year exported £6.5bn worth of goods. So it is a very important part of the economy and one that we are taking very seriously at the Department of Trade and Industry. I'm glad this event is being held in the new Fashion and Textile Museum. Zandra Rhodes has done brilliantly in getting the project to this stage, and I and many other people are looking forward to its opening in the spring. Showcasing the best of modern fashions alongside the traditions of the past will be an inspiration for designers and give a real boost to the importance of London as a world fashion capital. I warmly congratulate Zandra and wish her every success. And this is an industry that can draw strength and inspiration from the cultural diversity of this city. That's what this event is all about. It is a window to the world for the new generation of London's Asian designers and retailers, and an excellent opportunity for them to show their outstanding couture clothing and jewellery collections to a new, mainstream audience of high-street retailers, independent buyers and exporters. Now I had a sneak preview in May when I attended the wonderful fashion show that Newham College organised at Barclay Hall in Green Street. Twenty-five years ago, when I first visited Green Street, it looked like a struggling and declining inner city shopping street, although even then there was obviously some life in the new Asian businesses that were developing. Today, it is bursting with activity and heaving with shoppers, as people come by the coach load to do their shopping, and the Evening Standard describes it as "the new Asian Bond Street". Newham College, under the leadership of Martin Tolhurst and through its Centre for Innovation and Partnerships, has done a great job working with the fashion sector, and in putting this event together with the London Fashion Forum. Last month, I had the opportunity to visit India to open the IT.Com trade show in Bangalor with the President of India. People told me how impressed they had been on the Prime Minister's visit to India earlier in the year by the suits that were worm by him and by Cherie Blair. I was able to tell them with pride that those suits were bought in Green Street at the store of Babs Mahil who grew up in my constituency. And I do want to pay tribute to all those who, starting with the first Asian businesses in London forty years or so ago, have built up through hard work and determination today really successful businesses. They are seeing now wider recognition for their efforts with the new popularity of Asian arts and culture across the whole community too. By showcasing the wealth of talent among London's Asian designers and retailers and extending their reach to a wider audience I hope this event will lead to some very real commercial success. People from the black and minority ethnic communities now make up 7% of the UK's population. Yet entrepreneurs from ethnic minority backgrounds are responsible for 9% of new business start-ups. We need to encourage and celebrate those resources of entrepreneurship, and I'm looking forward to seeing the results of research commissioned by The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, into the contribution Asian businesses make to London's economy. Let me finally encourage you to look at the opportunities which new technology brings, in particular, the benefits of broadband communications. Sharing large files electronically through broadband can make a real difference to design businesses. Digital Fashion Library and marketing on the web, independently or through Fashion Capital when it is launched, could make a real difference too in reaching a much larger market. And don't forget the impressive strides on e-commerce being made today in the sub-continent. So congratulations to everybody involved. We have a great deal to gain from working together. Let's continue to do so. |
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Other speeches by Stephen Timms MP
(the following are available from the archive) |
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