Abidjan will host, from June 8 to 11, the first virtual world summit on rubber. As a prelude to these meetings, the players in the sector hosted a press conference on Tuesday, June 1.
“Facing the Future: Inclusiveness, Sustainability and Growth for the New Normal.” This is the theme of the first virtual world summit on Rubber, initiated by the international rubber study group (IRSG), which will be held from June 8 to 11, 2021 in Abidjan, the Ivorian economic capital. As a prelude to this meeting which will bring together the entire global value chain of natural rubber and synthetic rubber, the Ivorian Minister of Agriculture and Sustainable Development, Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani and the actors of the sector, namely Ali Touré of the Groupe d ‘ international rubber study (IRSG) and Eugène Krémian from the Association of Natural Rubber Professionals of Côte d’Ivoire (APROMAC), hosted a press conference on Tuesday, June 1.
The objective of this speech was to situate the objectives and challenges of this meeting, which provides for the participation of some twenty countries. “This first virtual summit is a framework for exchanges between world experts in research, industry and development of natural rubber and synthetic rubber on the future of rubber in producing countries as well as in consumer countries”, explained the Ivorian Minister of Agriculture. While welcoming the fact that Côte d’Ivoire, whose natural rubber is the third largest agricultural export product in terms of volume, after cocoa and cashew, will have the opportunity to present the efforts made. Both for processing and for increasing production which, according to forecasts, could reach 2 million tonnes.
As for Ali Touré from IRSG and Eugène Krémian from APROMAC, they explained that this international forum is the ideal framework to discuss the speculative value of natural rubber in order to improve the quality of life of small local producers who are often harmed by multinationals in the sector.
Note that since the 1990s, Côte d’Ivoire has been the leading African producer of natural rubber. And in 2020, it went from 6th place to the 4th largest producer in the world.
