India, Brazil, Vietnam launch cashew alliance

08 December 2007

Mumbai: India, Brazil and Vietnam, the three main cashew producers, have formed a global alliance for cashew with a view to protecting their interests, union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh said.

The grouping would have its headquarters in India and the government is debating the feasibility of locating it at Kochi, Kollam, Bangalore or Mumbai amidst pressures for locating it at Kollam, the minister said at a press meet.

Unlike the OPEC, the minister said, the cashew alliance would work as a lose confederation of three major cashew producers of the world, aiming to ensure that interests of the three countries do not get hurt.

India, which produces and imports half a million tonnes of cashew annually, is the world's largest cashew producer, importer, processor and consumer.

The alliance will ensure that high productivity in a country will not have destabilising effect in the other two countries, he said.

The concept was ready and the three countries have agreed for such an alliance. In the next six months, a decision in this regard is likely to be taken, he said.