Suriname to set up furniture corridor in Hyderabad

The Dollar Business Bureau

South American nation, the Republic of Suriname, will establish an exclusive corridor for furniture design in the city of Hyderabad for exporting furniture to Latin American (LatAm) nations.

This is the second such furniture corridor in India to be established on the lines of the first one in Kolar (Karnataka). The corridor will start and be functional in the next 6 months. This was revealed to the media on Friday by Asif lqbal, Honorary Consul of Republic of Suriname (for AP, TS and Karnataka).

“The Republic of Suriname is working along with the government run design school, National Institute of Design (NID), for partnership,” he added.

He was speaking to the newspersons on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of South American nation’s honorary consulate office in Hyderabad. The Honorary Consulate in the city will work for boosting the economic, scientific, educational and cultural ties between the two countries.

Briefing on the purpose behind setting up the design centre, Iqbal said that there are around 36 rare types of timber in the Suriname including the beach timber that is gathered from under the sea. “The local teak is so expensive that it makes sensible business proposition to design and manufacture furniture here with Suriname timber and export it.” The imported teak from Suriname will cost only Rs.700, whereas local teak is priced at Rs.2,800 per cubic feet, Iqbal claimed. The planned design corridor due to begin in 3 months in Kolar will have around 170 craftsmen.

Detailing the future business interests of Suriname in India, Asif lqbal revealed his government’s plans to set up a food processing centre in Kurnool (AP) and is also looking at keenly developing partnerships with infrastructural firms and film-makers.

Suriname’s exports to India stood at $33.17 million till September in the financial year 2015-16. The country’s imports from India were $8.4 million during the same period.