KOCHI: India has retained the chairmanship ofInternational Rubber Study Group (IRSG), a Singapore-based inter-governmental organization of rubber producing and consuming countries.
Sheela Thomas, chairman of the Rubber Board, would take charge as the head of IRSG. The decision was made unanimously at the meeting of the heads of delegations, held in Singapore on May 21.
India has been chairing the group since July 2011 and now will hold the post for another two years.
Further, J K Thomas, managing director of Malankara Plantations Ltd, has been selected as the vice-chairman of the industry advisory panel of IRSG.
The work plan of IRSG is formulated based on the inputs from this panel. Fazilet Cinaralp, secretary general of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA), based in Brussels, Belgium, is the chairman of the panel.
Members of IRSG said that India, being both a producer and consumer of rubber, would be in a position to protect the interests of producers as well as consumers.
IRSG is the only forum where natural rubber and synthetic rubber producers and consumers come together to discuss common issues.
