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Business meet throws up new possibilities

KOCHI: For the likes of Sherine Peerez, a micro business entrepreneur from Sri Lanka, the 7th Commonwealth-India Small Business Competitiveness Development Programme, which ended here on Monday, was an awakening to the world of possibilities.

Ms. Peerez is into small time garment business and owns a factory in Colombo. “Till I attended this programme I never gave a thought to the importance of by-products and value addition,” she said.

The visit to the Rice Millers’ Consortium at Kalady made her realise the enormous scope presented by value addition. She is now thinking of developing a whole new product using the remains from her factory besides utilising them for patch works.

She found the discussions and presentations at the programme extremely useful helping her redefine business goals. “It has helped me set the sights high. Now, am thinking of getting into export business,” she said.

She expects the exposure the platform provides to help her find buyers for her garments as well.

Programmes like this help us learn about the various business practices in other countries.

What struck her about Kerala was the opportunities available to women at all levels. “This is a place where the poor can find the strength to come up in life,” Ms. Peerez said.

For Selima Ahmad, president of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the programme provided ways to learn through interaction with delegates from other countries.

She said that Kerala had many models which could be implemented in Bangladesh. Impressed by the rice millers’ cluster at Kalady, Ms. Ahmad is already thinking of implementing the model back home. She said that with the majority members of the Commonwealth being coconut growers, the coir boards in the respective countries could share various initiatives.

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