The Union Minister for Commerce and Industries, Nirmala Sitharaman, will inaugurate the 9th annual rubber conference of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) on October 17 at Guwahati.
The Minister will also release a new natural rubber clone developed by the Rubber Research Institute of India, exclusively for cultivation in the North East, by handing over a seedling to Atul Bora, Agricultural Minister of Assam. This is the first time the Rubber Board releasing an Indian clone for exclusive cultivation in the North East.
ANRPC is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1970 and has at present 11 member countries such as Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. These 11 countries together account for around 90 per cent of world natural rubber production and 65 per cent consumption.
The association has been an effective forum for facilitating exchange of information, consolidation of statistics, networking and coordinated initiatives on issues confronting the NR sector. The session of the assembly and meeting of executive committee of ANRPC is held usually once a year.
Speakers at the conference include Sheela Thomas (Secretary General, ANRPC), Tirthankar Patnaik (India Strategist, Asian Financial Solutions Dept, Mizuho Bank Ltd, Japan), Abdul Aziz SA Kadir (Secretary General, International Rubber Research & Development Board), Lekshmi Nair (Head of Economics & Statistics, International Rubber Study Group, Singapore).
