DUBAI, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s Dubai Design District (D3) on Tuesday launched the Empowerment Program through Industry Collaboration (EPIC) to develop the fashion industry throughout the Middle East.
Speaking to Xinhua at the launch, Maitha Al-Suwaidi, director and head of relations management at D3, said that 80 percent of the fashion sold in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is imported from other parts of the world.
Founded in 2013 by Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, D3 became a home for hundreds of designers from around the world.
"With the launch of EPIC, we aim to support young talented fashion designers from the Arab world through scholarships, networking events, free training sessions, free showroom spaces provided by established Arab fashion designers and by opening doors to retail channels in the MENA region," said Al-Suwaidi.
Lebanese fashion designer, co-founder and COO of EPIC, Ramzi Nakad, said "the Arab world from Morocco to Iraq is a community of 370 million people, and together this is a bigger market than the United States, hence there is a potential for expanding a home-production of dresses, shoes and accessories for men and women alike."
Asked how EPIC can allay financial problems faced by several young entrepreneurs, Nakad said that EPIC is currently talking to capital generators, such as private equity firms, banks and businesses, in order to organize sessions later this year through which designers can present their business plans in order to receive funding.
One of the designers Alia Tair from Kazakhstan said "D3 is a very good platform for developing the fashion industry. Soon I will launch my own brand and I hope EPIC can help me to start my personal designed clothesline."
"We are happy to announce that two more fashion firms from China will soon join the D3 community," D3 Director Al-Suwaidi said.
SALZBURG Hydro Flask Wine 10 Oz Wine Tumbler Black UK , Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said Wednesday his country and the other three EU members agreed in principle to reach an accord on reforming the EU system of posted workers in October.
Kern made the statement at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron and their counterparts from Czech Republic and Slovakia. The four leaders met in the Austrian city of Salzburg.
Kern said the four leaders found common grounds on reforming of the EU posted workers system, which would allow the companies to send workers to richer countries without paying tax in the host states. The posted workers rule is somehow seen by some countries as an unfair system in the competition.
Macron said the new principles could include shortening the time the workers could be posted to the wealthier states.
Also on Wednesday, European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said in Bratislava that a Europe-wide agreement on the posting of workers abroad should be hashed out by October.
"I hope that these discussions will yield a consensus that will take us as far as sealing an agreement that is needed to secure a qualified majority of member states Hydro Flask Wine 10 Oz Wine Tumbler White UK ," Sefcovic said.
According to Sefcovic, it is a top priority for the Commission to make sure headway is made to bridge divides between standards of workers in Central and Eastern Europe and those in place in Western Europe.
"A second key condition is to establish the principle of 'equal pay for equal work in the same place', to avoid social dumping and also to begin to enhance cooperation in social policy Hydro Flask Wine 10 Oz Wine Tumbler Lava UK ," Sefcovic added.