Coir Kerala to start tomorrow
ALAPPUZHA: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will open the seventh edition of Coir Kerala at 4.30 pm, Thursday at EMS Auditorium here. Finance and coir minister T. M. Thomas Isaac said 140 buyers from 39 countries would attend the expo, besides over 150 domestic participants. Mr Isaac said the state government was aiming at a comprehensive modernisation of the industry ensuring jobs. "The motto is Coir-Heritage and Modernisation," he told a press conference here on Monday. The expo will witness the launch of the modernisation project for coir cooperatives with an outlay Rs 1300 crore in five years.
"The government wants to produce maximum coir fibre within Kerala and stop depending on other states," he said. "We will promote the use of coir products in all fields. We will also reach an agreement for using coir geotextiles for the preservation of soil and water under MGNREGA. As many as 700 grama panchayats will use coir geotextiles this year. The MGNREGA Mission and local bodies will ink an agreement with us for purchasing coir geotextiles worth over Rs 100 crore.''
PWD minister G. Sudhakaran will inaugurate international pavilion and civil supplies minister P. Thilothaman the national pavilion. Transport minister Thomas Chandy will open tourism-museum pavilion. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala will inaugurate cultural evenings at the function that Mr Isaac will preside over. The five-day event will witness international and national seminars, cultural events and buyer-seller meet. Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission chairperson V. S. Achuthanandan will inaugurate the valedictory function that Mr Sudhakaran will preside over.