Jaswinder (Jas) Bedi, EBS, MBS
Jas is a textile graduate (1984) and has attended numerous executive business courses at Harvard Business School, IMD and IIM. His business acumen has been recognized by the Government of Kenya whereby HE President Mwai Kibaki decorated Jas with a medal, Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS) in 2012. Further in 2016 Jas was nominated as a finalist in the Africa CEO forum awards and subsequently awarded Sikh CEO of the year. Thereafter in 2017, HE President Uhuru Kenyatta decorated Jas with a medal, Elder of the Burning Spear (EBS).
Jas is currently the:
- Chairman of Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (KEPROBA).
- Board Member of Industrial & Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) & Chair of the logistics masterplan of KTLN in the coordination of KPC, KPA & KRC.
- Vice Chairman of Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA).
- Vice Chairman of East African Business Council (EABC).
- Managing Director of Bedi Investments Limited.
- Executive Director of Fine Spinners Uganda Limited.
- Member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO).
- Member of the UNDP African Influencers for Development Super Group.
Jas has previously served as:
- Chairman, African Cotton & Textile Industries Federation (ACTIF) 2005-2019.
- Chairman, Export Promotion Council (EPC) 2016-2019.
- President of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) 2016-2018.
- Chairman, Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) 2010 -2012.
- Director, Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) 1996 -2010
- Chairman, Kenya Apparel Manufacturers Exporters Association 2003 -2010.
- Director, Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) 2018 -2021.
- Governor, Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) 2010 -2015.
- Vice Chairman, East African Business Council (EABC) 2012 –2014.
- Managing Director, Orbit Chemicals Industries Limited 2003 –2005.
- Director, Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) 2006 –2012.
- Director, Export Promotion Council (EPC) 2003 -2006.
- Board member of the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) 1996 -1998.
Jas has been tirelessly involved in developing export market opportunities, particularly in trading bocks such as EAC, COMESA, SADC, AfCTA, USA and the European Union. Besides lobbying in the aforementioned trading blocs, Jas continues to open new markets for Kenyan exports such as China to help diversify Kenya’s export basket with a clear vision of Brand Kenya, Export Kenyan & Build Kenya.
2.15 - 3:15 PM WORKSHOP 3 & 4
WORKSHOP 4: SUSTAINABLE AND ETHICAL TEXTILE & FASHION
The textile and fashion industry is a long and vast value chain that starts with farming or extraction and ends at the second-hand clothing market or beyond. Due to the current fast and global fashion industry, the negative impact is seen and felt on all the components of the value chain, from massive pressure on the production of cotton leading to soil degradation to the overwhelming waste generation since materials are designed to last short and used for a brief period and disposed of thereafter.
Shifting market demands and opportunities and the current ‘Africa is in Fashion’ trends may provide Africa the ultimate momentum to ‘change the Textile & Fashion story – for Good’. Join this session, as we explore how the use of organic material, alternative fibres, ethical production, creative traditional and contemporary skills and design, and sustainable consumption can reduce the environmental and social impact of the textile industry.
SCHEDULE SPEAKERS:
Valerie Nyamwaya, Nadia Ashraf, Ludovica D’Andria Di Montelungo, Louise Sommerlatte, Jaswinder (Jas) Bedi, EBS, MBS, Janet Chemitei, Elise Sormani, Christine-Ann Mccreath, Brian Kihindas, Bettina Heller