Alex Ngarambe
13 November 2009
Kigali — Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and UTEXRWA Rwanda's only textile company have entered into an arrangement where Rwanda's textile products will be promoted abroad as the company plans to go international next year.
According to Raj Rajendran Utexrwa's Managing Director, the company wants the international market to get to know of its brand and its quality before it can start supplying the product.
"RDB has been involved in promoting coffee and tea which are of good quality to the outside world and we think it can help us do the same with our textile products," said Rajendran.
Rajendran said that when they go commercial, they will supply suits, mushanana (a traditional women outfit) to the domestic market why the international market will receive cotton bags, malaria bed nets among others.
However, this ambitious commercial launch will not start until next year when the supply chain has been fully developed to keep consistence in the supply.
The company has invested $5 million in the production of silk which was used to partly import semi automatic yarning machines.
In order to meet the demand on the market, utexrwa is planning to increase its production capacity from 100 hectares of land that is cultivated with mulberry, a tree that produces silk cocoons to 300 hectares.
However, the silk industry is affected by lack of knowledge from the farmers but utexrwa together with the ministry of agriculture are helping equip them with skills.
The government has targeted 600,000 hectares of mulberry trees planted to benefit 60,000 poor families. It also pledged Rwf154 million for training in sericulture.
Utexrwa has provided 740 locals with jobs.
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