£2.6m Budget For Wool Promotion

Press, Volume C, Issue 29515, 17 May 1961, Page 19

£2.6m Budget For Wool Promotion

(N.Z Press Association— Copyright)

MELBOURNE, May 16. Thirteen men, faced with growing inroads by synthetic fibres on the world textile markets, today met in a Melbourne board room to plan the spending of £2.680,000 sterling on wool promotion. The men comprise the new board of the International Wool Secretariat, the threenation wool promoting body, reconstituted at a London conference last year. With nine advisers, the board members met today to begin planning the secretariat's 1961-62 budget which, at £2.600.000 is bigger than ever before. Despite the size of this promotion programme, board members said today it was very small in comparison with the larger promotion budgets of the synthetic fibre manufacturers. New Constitution The new constitution, which the board began implementing today, involves the appointment of a managing director, setting up of three promotion zones under regional directors in Europe. Asia, and the Americas, and the creation of what is hoped to be a more flexible and business-like promotion, research, and technical liaison organisation. It will also involve establishing a world-wide wool technical advisory service and the planning of a long-term campaign to open up new markets in iron curtain countries, Communist China, and other parts of Asia, The chairman of the Australian Wool Bureau, Sir William Gunn, today was elected chairman of the reorganised I.W.S.

The world economic position was improving and prospects for wool in the immediate future appeared to be brighter, the retiring chairman of the International Wool Secretariat executive. Dr. J. G. van de Wath, of South Africa, said in his annual report. Recovery In U.S. Dr. van de Wath said a recovery from the current recession in the United States may already have started and the British economy was likely to expand a little faster than might have been expected a few months ago. He said: "Incomes should continue to rise in most Western European countries and in Japan. There is. therefore, likely to be a further rise in consumer demand for clothing during 1961.

"The recent improvement in wool prices is, I expect, largely due to a realisation of this fact We must do all we can to ensure that it is wooL and not the competitive fibres, that benefits from this growth in demand for clothing.” Dr. van der Wath said the weakness in the wool market this season could be traced to developments on both the supply and the demand side. "Onslaught” of Synthetic* Dr. van der Wath said changes in the constitution of the I.WS. had been agreed to by the Australian, New Zealand and South African wool boards in good faith because it was realised that: Wool was in danger and an effective, business-like machinery was required to face the onslaught of competing fibres. Australia’s contribution of 62 per cent entitled the Australian woolgrowers to a bigger proportional representation on the board of the I.W.S.

Dr. van der Wath appealed to the governments of the three I.W.S. countries to assist growers to reduce the production costs of wool. Rising production costs could neutralise to some extent the efforts of the I.W.S. to sustain an economic price for wool. He appealed to woolgrowlers of the three member countries to provide sufficient funds to the I.W.S. for effective promotion and research.