The Hindu Business Line : Good scope for coir goods in Latam nations

This has come to light after the recent exploratory visit by a Coir Board delegation led by its Chairman. ``The region lacks awareness about Indian coir products and, therefore, we have to create awareness about their advantages,'' the board Chairman, Mr Christy Fernandez, told Business Line.

He said Latin America had been rated as the second fastest growing area in the world. The region with 43 countries, several of them showing good perspective in growth and dynamic trend in their markets, offered a potential market for Indian exports. Exports of coir and coir products to these countries had been negligible over the years, he said.

With a view to creating awareness about Indian products, an exploratory delegation from Coir Board comprising the Chairman and the Union SSI and ARI Secretary, Mr Ashok Pradhan, with two other industrialists had made a recent visit to Latam countries.

He said Brazil had the highest market with a reasonably stable economy and a growing middle class. It was felt that emphasis should be given to participation in product-specific exhibitions and fairs for generating and sustaining interest, he said.

Though Brazil produced coconut, it was not viable to produce coir products in that country using local raw materials owing to high labour cost, he said. ``There were some preliminary enquiries about the possibility of setting up production infrastructure through joint venture.''

The delegation felt that a market survey needed to be done, besides identifying local agents who could be capable of promoting coir products.

Meanwhile, in Chile there was near total absence of awareness about the wide range of coir products from India, he said. In Panama too, he said, high-end coir products were not available albeit the presence of inferior quality coir mats and small area rugs with poor finish.

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