Category: 3. Business

The European textile sector continues to operate on largely linear production models, with around 73 % of post-consumer textiles in the EU incinerated or landfilled. Transitioning to a system of durable, reusable, repairable, and recyclable textiles is therefore essential to reducing waste, emissions, and virgin resource dependency. This transition relies on high-quality product and material data. Traceability enables the tracking of fibres, processes, and actors across the supply chain, while transparency ensures that information is accessible to the relevant stakeholders. Reliable data underpin circular business models, support verification of environmental claims, and improve sorting, reuse, and recycling efficiency.

This PESCO-UP policy brief aims to contribute timely evidence to the ongoing debate on traceability and transparency in the textiles sector. This comes at a critical moment when the Delegated Act for Textiles under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is still under preparation. Once adopted, it will define compulsory data to be collected and shared, governance rules, and implementation timelines for the Digital Product Passport (DPP) in the textiles sector. As such, it is essential that the requirements reflect real needs and capacities of actors involved in textile sorting and recycling, while also taking potential challenges for these and other actors in the supply chain (including brands, software providers, manufacturers etc.) into account. Ensuring that the DPP is practical, relevant, and scalable will be crucial to unlocking circular business models in the sector and ultimately achieving the environmental and social outcomes the EU has set for the textile industry.

This policy brief was written in the context of the PESCO-UP project, funded by the European Union under grand agreement No. 101138367. This policy brief was first published on .

• EBRD provides US$ 20 million to Nika Pharm
• Company to increase its production capacity, achieve GMP certification
• Project will stimulate local production of medicines

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is promoting further growth in domestic production of pharmaceutical products in Uzbekistan by supporting the operations of leading local manufacturer Nika Pharm. 

Nika Pharm will use the EBRD loan of up to US$ 20 million to restructure its balance sheet and upgrade equipment and facilities in order to increase production capacity, improve product quality and bring the entire manufacturing process into compliance with the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards of the World Health Organisation’s certification scheme.

The company has been an EBRD client since 2021 and is a well-established producer of tablets, capsules, sachets and nasal sprays for use in the treatment of common colds, as well as in gastroenterology, paediatrics and urology. During this time, Nika Pharm has become a leader in several key segments, including decongestants, and has shown strong and sustainable growth by replacing imports with high-quality local production.

The project will help to expand Nika Pharm’s manufacturing base, improve its sustainability and efficiency, and lead to an average 140 per cent increase in the company’s production of generic pharmaceuticals and prescription drugs. Together with GMP certification, this will allow Nika Pharm to strengthen its position both domestically and regionally.

Uzbekistan’s rapidly growing pharmaceuticals market, which is set to expand by a further 10 per cent by 2029, is dominated (around 75 per cent) by imported medicines. The project will help contribute to the government’s plan of eventually bringing the share of locally produced pharmaceuticals to 80 per cent.

The EBRD has invested over US$ 6.6 billion in Uzbekistan to date through 196 projects, with the majority of those funds supporting private entrepreneurship, contributing to the country’s economic development.

 

Givaudan will announce its 2025 full year results on 29 January 2026.

A media release, the integrated and financial reports and the full year results presentation will be published on our website at 07:00 CET. Our live webcast for analysts and investors will be broadcasted at 11:00 CET.

 
The conference call will be hosted by Gilles Andrier, Chief Executive Officer and Stewart Harris, Chief Financial Officer.

Pre-registration for tickets begins on 8 January. A “full madness pass” covering all three days of the festival will cost 12,500 baht ($400; £300) while a single-day pass is going at 5,100 baht.

More details on the festival’s theme and line-up will follow soon, organisers said.

Although the Tomorrowland group has held events in some Asian cities, this is the first time it will be holding an entire festival in the continent, and one that is similar to the scale of what it does in Belgium.

Thailand finalised an agreement with Tomorrowland to host the event for five years and expects it to generate 21bn baht ($673m; £497m) over the period, Thai media reported.

“Expanding Tomorrowland to a new continent is a milestone we approach with great respect and excitement… This is the beginning of a long-term story,” said Tomorrowland’s chief executive officer Bruno Vanwelsenaers.

In recent years, Thailand has become a strong contender in the live music scene. Last year, it played host to international music festivals like Electric Daisy Carnival and Creamfields. Bangkok was also a stop on K-pop band Blackpink’s world tour last October.

And the country’s homegrown music and arts festival Wonderfruit is emerging as a hot destination on the festival circuit, drawing tens of thousands of people each year.

This Energy transition assessment, developed by IRENA in partnership with the Ministry of Water and Energy of Chad, provides a thorough analysis of the key conditions necessary for renewable energy deployment and the acceleration of Chad’s energy transition. Chad faces significant development challenges, including high exposure to climate change and an economy heavily dependent on hydrocarbon resources. The country’s energy mix is dominated by traditional biomass, while the electricity access rate is among the world’s lowest at 12%, with electricity generated mainly from fossil fuels.

The country possesses abundant strategic assets, however, including solar, wind and biomass resources that can be leveraged to facilitate its energy transition. Chad’s strategic goals for 2030 include an electricity access rate of between 60% and 90%, and a national energy mix in which renewables account for between 20% and 30%. Achieving these ambitions requires significant investment in energy services and a strengthening of the energy governance framework.

This assessment proposes tailored short- and medium-term action plans and recommendations to overcome a variety of obstacles to the transition in Chad. Key recommendations focus on enhancing planning, policy and regulatory frameworks, including finalising the 2019 Law on electricity sector reform. The report also outlines strategies for accelerating electricity access via mini-grids and the deployment of solar power systems, promoting clean cooking solutions, strengthening energy efficiency measures, addressing financing and investment gaps, and strengthening capacities, skills, and awareness-raising across the energy sector.