KOCHI: The fourth edition of the biennial ‘India Rubber Meet’ will be held at the Grand Hyatt in Bolgatty on Tuesday and Wednesday. The meet is organised by the Rubber Board in partnership with stakeholder associations in rubber and related sectors. Sheela Thomas, (former Secretary general, Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries and Former Chairman, Rubber Board) will inaugurate the meet which is a major initiative of the Indian rubber industry. The aim is to organise a regular forum for interaction, networking and exchange of information.
The theme is ‘Towards a sustainable rubber value chain’. Talks and panel discussions will be on the global economic outlook, rubber industry outlook, global and domestic NR scenario, synthetic rubber development and trends in the auto and tyre sectors. “Rubber is a strategic commodity. Hence, the industry has to overcome the challenges by ensuring a long-term support from related sectors.
The last three meets could create a strong platform of stakeholder associations to formulate appropriate strategies for ensuring a balanced and sustained growth of the rubber industry,” the organisers said in a press note. The experts participating will include Ajay Shah, President, Polymer Chain, Reliance Industries Ltd, Dr DK Joshi, Chief Economist CRISIL, Gunther Lottmann, CEO, Grupo Fortaleza, Guatemala, Mathew George, General Manager, Petrochemicals, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Rakesh Batra, Partner and National Leader, Automotive Sector, Ernst and Young, Rajiv Budhraja, Director General, ATMA and N Dharmaraj, Director, Harrisons Malayalam Limited. The last session, ‘Economy and Sustainability- II will be chaired by Vinod Simon, Chairman, Rubber Skill Development Council.The talks will be followed by panel discussions.
The discussion on the international scenario ‘Global Challenged and Emerging Alternatives will be chaired by Dr Hidde Smit, Consultant on Analysis and Forecasts of the Rubber Economy. The second panel discussion will be on ‘Challenges and Opportunities from the Stakeholders’ Perspective’ and will be chaired by D Anandan, chairman, Rubber Board of India.