Members of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) have unanimously elected India as the new chairman of the intergovernmental organisation in the 39th Assembly Session of ANRPC held last month at Guwahati in India.
Taking over from the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Government of India was represented by A. Ajith Kumar IAS, Chairman of the Rubber Board, India. The Chairmanship period will be for one year.
Vietnam was chosen as ANRPC’s vice-chairman.
Established in 1970, the ANRPC currently has 11 member countries: Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.Together, these 11 countries account for around 90% of global natural rubber (NR) production and 65% of global NR consumption.
The Association has been an effective forum for facilitating exchange of information, consolidation of statistics, networking and coordinated initiatives on issues confronting the natural rubber sector.
The ANRPC annual meetings for 2016 were hosted by the Government of India at Guwahati, Assam last month. The next annual meetings of ANRPC will be held in Vietnam in 2017.