India to spend $1.5 billion on Zambian leather
Investors in India have said that they will import leather worth $1.5 billion from Zambia in the next five years to meet the current increasing demand for the raw material in the Asian country.
Delegation leader Rafeeque Ahmed said that the demand for leather was increasing in India, hence the need to start importing it from Zambia.
Mr Rafeeque, chairman of Indian leather group, Farida, said investors in his delegation would work closely with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to cement partnerships through business linkages.
Addressing participants at a workshop at Lusaka’s COMESA headquarters, he said partnerships would facilitate for quality leather being produced through improved technologies.
“India needs extra leather for the production of leather related products and it’s for this reason that we want to work hand in hand in COMESA,” he said.
Livestock and Fisheries Development Deputy minister, Albert Mulonga, said Zambia’'s leather export had progressively increased from $3.4 million in 2003 to $10.8 million in 2009.
Mr Mulonga said the country’s leather sector had potential to grow if supported by further value addition. He said there was need for increased investment in value addition technologies.
