13th World Spice Congress to he held in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad

The 13 edition of World Spice Congress will he held in Ahmedabad from February 27 to 29 next year, Spices Board, the flagship organisation under Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, informed here today,

Addressing a press conference here the Board Chiarman Dr A jayathilak, IAS, said the three day biennial event to be held at the Gujarat University Convention Center would be first edition of the WSC to be held in Gujarat.

Around 243 confirmed domestic and International delegate registration, 30 sponsorships and 81 stall are booked as on date. ‘The event would serve as a global platform for discussion and interaction between importers, exporters, regulators and other stakeholders of the spice industry which has touched Rs 14000 crore export mark. Of this around one third is done through the seed spices of Gujarat. We have chosen Ahmedabad as the venue as it is the largest production and marketing center of seed spices. It also has the close proximity to Unjha, the largest assembly market of such items in the world,’ Mr. Jayathilak said.

He said that there will be several dedicated sessions during the event and will focus on adding more and more small and medium sized exporters and spice farmers with it. The crop reports would also be tabled to give a sneak preview of what to expect in terms of spice production and price volatility. The event would be organised in collaboration with the Cochin Hill Produce Merchant’s Association and India Pepper and Spice Trade Association (IPSTA). It would be actively supported by Indian Spices and Foodstuff Exporters Association and All India Spices Importers and Distributors Association. Last edition of the event was held in Kochi of Kerala.

The Chairman said out of total production 15% of spices are exported from India which contributes to 48% in volume and 43% in value of the world spice trade. Spice exports which was seeing a steady growth of around 20 percent year on year has seen a 30% surge during the first quarter of the current fiscal.

Board Vice Chairman Bhaskar Shah and Director S Kannan were also present on the occasion.

DeshGujarat