Business
15 countries attending Coir Kerala
Alappuzha (Kerala), Feb 1
Signalling the
growing interest in Indian-made coir and natural fibre products
worldwide, nearly 15 countries are represented for the first time at
Coir Kerala, the annual international expo which began here Sunday.
Chief
Minister Oommen Chandy, who inaugurated the five-day event, said that
apart from launching various modernization schemes for the coir sector,
the government has decided to extend all support to the small coir
units.
"We have taken it as a challenge to modernize our
traditional coir sector and equip them to face competition in the global
market," he said.
Chandy said that Coir Kerala has, over the
past four years, emerged as platform for the coir industry to find new
markets in the world and the participation of international buyers had
increased significantly at the event.
In his presidential
address, Revenue and Coir Minister Adoor Prakash said that the
government is giving top priority to mechanization of the coir sector
and the National Coir Research and Management Institute (NCRMI) has
developed automatic spinning machines to help the coir workers.
He
pointed out that the steps taken by the government to increase the
availability of coir fibre had yielded result with the production
increasing to 45,000 metric tonne per year from 25,000 metric tonne in
the last one year.
"The actual requirement of coir fibre in the
state is pegged at 2.25 lakh metric tonne per year and we have been
taking various measures to increase its production," he added.
The
fifth edition of the event has attracted more than 170 buyers from 53
nations, recording its biggest foreign participation ever.
The event is believed to be a significant contributor to the annual increase in revenues from coir exports.
This edition of Coir Kerala is targeting export orders worth Rs.200 crore.