Chief Minister Oommen Chandy inaugurated the five-day event in Alappuzha on Sunday.
Signalling the growing interest in Indian-made coir and natural fibre products worldwide, nearly 15 countries are represented for the first time at Coir Kerala, the annual international expo which began in Alappuzha on Sunday.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who inaugurated the five-day event, said that apart from launching various modernization schemes for the coir sector, the government has decided to extend all support to the small coir units.
"We have taken it as a challenge to modernize our traditional coir sector and equip them to face competition in the global market," he said.
Chandy said that Coir Kerala has, over the past four years, emerged as platform for the coir industry to find new markets in the world and the participation of international buyers had increased significantly at the event.
In his presidential address, Revenue and Coir Minister Adoor Prakash said that the government is giving top priority to mechanization of the coir sector and the National Coir Research and Management Institute (NCRMI) has developed automatic spinning machines to help the coir workers.
He pointed out that the steps taken by the government to increase the availability of coir fibre had yielded result with the production increasing to 45,000 metric tonne per year from 25,000 metric tonne in the last one year.
"The actual requirement of coir fibre in the state is pegged at 2.25 lakh metric tonne per year and we have been taking various measures to increase its production," he added.
The fifth edition of the event has attracted more than 170 buyers from 53 nations, recording its biggest foreign participation ever.
The event is believed to be a significant contributor to the annual increase in revenues from coir exports.
This edition of Coir Kerala is targeting export orders worth Rs 200 crore.