Strategic Alliance For The Development Of Coir Industry In The APCC Countries And Demand Prospects For Coir Products In Ecofriendly Applications
Coir industry has developed at variying degrees only in a handful of coconut producing countries. Even in these countries only a small portion of the husk is being utilized for coir production. The export of coir from the producing countries is in the forms of fibre and processed products. While Sri Lanka is the largest exporter of fibre, India leads in product exports. Inadequate institutionalized effort has impeded the growth of coir industry. The socio-economic significance of coir in the developing countries has not been fully appreciated. The future potential of coir lies in developing and marketing diverse eco-friendly products such as rubberized coir, coir geotextiles, coir pith, etc. In the global markets coir is facing competition from synthetics. Tariff and non-tariff barriers also are constraints. The setting up of an institutional mechanism for bringing the coir producing countries of the world together under Institutional Agreement similar to such arrangements existing for other commodities like Coffee. Rubber, Spices, etc. has been proposed. APCC can take up the initiative for bringing the coir producing countries together under one umbrella for common good.