General Council Centexbel 25/11/2010

Umberto Ravijts, financial & administrative director of Centexbel, presented the financial data on the last three quarters of 2010 and guided the members through the 2011 budget. Both presentations showed a positive trend despite the less favorable economic situation. Centexbel remains a financially healthy technological centre at the service of the Belgian textile industry.

Jan Laperre, director general ofCentexbel, discussed the realisations of 2010 and presented the activities that the centre has planned in 2011 in the field of testing, services and research, the three main pillars of the scientific research centre. He also emphasized the importance of an intense partnership between the centre and the Belgian textile companies and gave a survey of the financial support offered by the authorities.

from left to right: Thomas Seynaeve (Seyntex nv), Myriam Ragolle en Herman Verhelst (Ragolle nv en Flanders Weavers), Francis Verstraete (Masureel Veredeling nv and president of Centexbel)

After the official part, the president welcomed the guests and guest speaker Julie Vandenbroucke of Arteconomy, who held an interesting lecture on the theme "Artist and entrepreneur: partners in innovation ". Her exemples taken from the textile sector clearly showed that the "recalcitrant" approach of the artist may have a clear and positive influence on the internal relationships and mutual respect between the employees of a company, or that it may improve the involvement of the employee in the company... also (and perhaps in particular) in more difficult economic times. The lecture was highly appreciated both by the industrials and by the alderwoman for culture of the city of Kortrijk, Christine Depuydt.

The lecture was followed by a reception and a visit to the exhibition Incredible that took place in the beautiful museum, a successful symbiosis between a historic building and contemporary architecture.