International Federation of Association of Textiel Chemists and Colourists

We are pleased to invite you to attend the XXVI IFATCC Conference, which will be held from 13th – 14th October 2023 in Augsburg, Germany, organized by VDTF.

You can find further information at the following link: www.vdtf.de/ifatcc-conference-2023/ifatcc-conference-2023

We look forward to meeting you in Augsburg.

Dear Friends of IFATCC.

We have left another year behind us that we had imagined a little different some time ago: … the pandemic would be medically and socially over.

But no.

The pandemic still had us in its grip. I would almost say it had a partial stranglehold.

Over the past two years, we have all come to realise that life continues to present us with new challenges.

Although this has always been the case, I think it has become even clearer because it has led to restrictions in our private and professional lives that were previously unknown to us.

Now we all have to go through this together.

There will be no way around.

However, none of this has brought our jobs to a standstill. On the contrary, new or rediscovered paths have been taken.

The possibilities of virtual encounters have become second nature to us.

This with a tearful eye, as our contacts were severely limited.

I hope that the new year 2023 will be kind to all of us.

Now that we are longing  for an end to the pandemic, a new challenge is upon us.

The sanctions against Russia, because of  the war in Ukraine, brings with it an energy crisis.

Many industrial sectors, including our textile- and chemical industries, are noticing this energy problem very clearly.

Unfortunately, some companies have already reached the limits of their capacity and fear even worse not to mention the smaller companies that have already had to close down.

But I don’t want to list all the horror scenarios here; in the end, life has also bright sides.

I would like to call for courage. 
Together we can achieve a lot, we just have to want it and push it through.

When I write these lines, a song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono comes to my mind, which says, among other things:

… Imagine there’s no country, it isn’t hard to do …
… Imagine all the people sharing all the world …
… and the world will live as one …
With these thoughts I wish you all a great new year 2023 and that your wishes will come true.

Reinhard Zander
President of IFATCC