Guwahati, Oct 8: Annual Rubber Conference and Assembly Meetings of the Association of Natural Rubber (NR) Producing Countries (ANRPC), an international organisation of natural rubber-producing countries, are going to be held in Guwahati from October 9 to 13, 2023.

The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and Textiles, Piyush Goyal, will inaugurate the Annual Rubber Conference on October 9 at 9.00 a m.

M. Vasanthagesan IRS, Executive Director of the Rubber Board, will deliver the welcome address on the occasion. Dato’ Dr. Zaroissani Mohd Nor, Director–General, Malaysian Rubber Board & Chairman of ANRPC will present the statement of the organization in the meeting. Toh Heng Guan, Secretary-General of ANRPC, will propose a vote of thanks.

Senior officials from the state governments, the chairman and members of the Rubber Board, foreign delegates, representatives of all stakeholder sessions in the NR sector, rubber growers, media representatives, etc. will participate in the annual rubber conference.

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) is an inter-governmental organisation established in 1970. The membership is open to the governments of countries producing natural rubber. Currently, 13 countries, including India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam, are members of this global association. Activities of the ANRPC are funded by contributions from Member Governments.

From 2008 onwards, ANRPC organizes the Annual Rubber Conference (ARC) with the active involvement and support of stakeholders in the private sector as well. The private sector enjoys free access to most of ANRPC’s information resources, including updated data and rubber industry news.

The mission of the association is to continuously improve the productivity of rubber holdings, reduce costs, increase value addition in the downstream rubber sector, explore sources of ancillary income, capitalise on the eco-friendly credentials of natural rubber, and thereby improve the well-being of rubber farmers. ANRPC is an authentic source of statistics and other information on the natural rubber industry in member countries.

It also serves as an international forum for analysing and formulating policies on matters concerning the interests of natural rubber producers in member countries.

The Assembly and all committees of the ANRPC normally meet once a year. For convenience, all these events and the Annual Rubber Conference are consecutively held in a week. These are followed by a visit of all delegates to rubber plantations, nurseries and processing factories in the country where the events are held. Each year, one of the Member Governments normally volunteers to host all the events.

The Rubber Board under the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry represents India at the meetings of ANRPC forums. This year, India hosts the annual meetings, and the central government has approved this programme as a side event of G-20 meetings. In the Indian NR sector, efforts are largely ongoing in various dimensions for the overall development of the sector.

India is trying to achieve self-sufficiency in all sectors, including rubber production and product manufacturing. As part of the efforts to produce enough rubber as is needed in the country, a rubber plantation project, ‘INROAD’ is being implemented with the cooperation and financial support of ATMA, the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association, to spread rubber cultivation in the north-eastern states of India including Assam.

Low prices of rubber, increased labour costs, labour shortages, diseases, climate change, environmental problems, etc., are the common challenges that all NR-producing countries face today. Collective efforts are essential to solve these common issues in this sector. This increases the importance of ANRPC as a common platform to identify and address worries common to all producing countries.

The ANRPC aims at the overall development of the NR sector and plays a significant role in assessing the situations in the member countries and facilitating communication between the stakeholders.

The exchange of ideas in the public forums of ANRPC, such as the Annual Rubber Conference, facilitates the formulation of strategies required to sustain the NR sector everywhere. It is commendable that the ANRPC chooses relevant topics for discussion at the annual meetings and helps solve important issues every year.

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