The Hindu Business Line : State officials in Mumbai to plug Kochi B2B meet

BUSINESS clusters in Kerala are getting ready to showcase their wares for domestic and international markets. The venue will be the business-to-business (B2B) meeting being organised by the State Government in Kochi during the first week of September.

A similar initiative last year had yielded business to the tune of Rs 250 crore.

Reason enough for the small and medium businessmen of Kerala to believe that their efforts at leveraging the collective strength of some 36 industrial clusters set up over the last couple of years are beginning to yield results.

With a major share of this business coming from Mumbai, the Kerala contingent, led by Mr P.H. Kurian, Secretary, Information Technology & Investment Promotion and Managing Director of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, and Mr T.O. Sooraj, Director of Industries and Commerce, Kerala Government, have once again set their sights on the financial capital of the country.

After all, Mumbai will have to play a major role if the target of the Kerala manufacturers to double business to Rs 500 crore this year is to materialise.

That the small and medium businesses of Kerala (around 300) have reposed faith in the B2B exercise is evident as they are chipping in Rs 12,000 each for the three-day trade meet. This means that Rs 36 lakh - 40 per cent of the business meet cost - would be borne by the entrepreneurs, the rest coming from the state government.

Talking to Business Line, Mr Kurian said: "Kerala is witnessing a great surge by the small and medium businesses. Of the 53 business cluster models that we have been working on, already 36 are up and running. Some of these, like the one set up by a group of rubber growers in Changanasserry, are astounding successes".

The Changanasserry model is a runaway success. The company, with 30 rubber producers as shareholders, has proved many sceptics wrong. The venture is doing things such as importing rubber chemicals and exporting finished rubber - unthinkable business propositions a few seasons ago. The entity is now doing a turnover of around Rs 150 crore and many scattered rubber producers are looking to emulate this model, Mr Kurian said.

This year, the Kerala B2B meet will showcase eight sectors including coir, handicrafts, handloom, processed food and spices, ayurvedic/herbal products and rubber products. Till date, some 250 buyers from the national arena and 50 from the international market have expressed interest, Mr Sooraj said.

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