“Development of Textile Industry in Rwanda”

1. “Development of Textile Industry in Rwanda” by Raj-Rajendran

2. Employment Generation… • Industrial Development in Textiles: • Agriculture • Textiles • Adding value by combining Agriculture and Textiles… • Silk • Banana Stem Fibers and Pineapple leaf fibers. by Raj-Rajendran

3. “Villages are the Backbone of the Country” by Raj-Rajendran

4. Key Factors for Industrial Development… • Identifying available resources • Global Market for Available Resources • Appropriate Technology for Value Addition • Promoting products & Services to the Global Market by Raj-Rajendran

5. Banana Fiber… • Sourced from Banana Plant • Abundantly available in Rwanda • Possibility to extract 2500 Tons/year by Raj-Rajendran

6. Application Areas of Banana Fiber… • Banana fiber as a natural sorbent • Banana fiber as a base material for bioremediation and recycling • Banana fiber as a natural water purifier • Banana fiber as a base material for the paper and pulp industry • Banana fiber in handicrafts and textiles • Banana fiber a license to print money by Raj-Rajendran

7. Stages in Banana Fiber Based Textiles… • Collection of stems and leaves • Fiber extraction • Softening and cutting • Spinning and Weaving • Processing • Apparel production • Fiber Extraction: • By Hand : 500 gms/ 8 hrs • By Machine : 15 – 20 Kgs / 8 hrs by Raj-Rajendran

8. Sericulture & Silk… • Agro based economy • Volcanic soil suitable for growing Mulberry • Climatic conditions supports production of good quality Mulberry by Raj-Rajendran

9. Sericulture Stages… • Mulberry cultivation • Silk worm rearing & cocoon production • Reeling of silk filament • Re-reeling of silk yarn & Twisting • Weaving • Processing (Dyeing & Printing) • Finishing • Garmenting • Marketing. by Raj-Rajendran

10. Role of Co-operatives.. • Mulberry cultivation, Silk worm Rearing & Cocoon production • Grading & Selling • Handloom Manufacturing • Handloom Weaving • Central Processing facility • Cutting & Sewing • Marketing by Raj-Rajendran

11. Local Loom Manufacturing.. • To avoid dependency on foreign machine manufacturers, service engineers and spares. • Hand-looms can be manufactured with locally available wood (90% parts) and 10% of remaining metallic parts can also be from imported Iron and Steel. • Professional Machine Designer to make an engineering design of the handloom Parts • Joining with the existing Technical Schools in the country to make use of their Carpentry Workshops/Labs. by Raj-Rajendran

12. Vertically Integrated Silk Industry.. • With these initiatives We can create a whole new vertically Integrated Silk Industry in Rwanda with all parts of value chain in place in the decentralized sector with cooperative units and SMEs and a larger Private Sector Player can set up Fashion and Product Design Studios along with Export Marketing activities. by Raj-Rajendran

13. Employment in RWANDA.. • As a result of these initiatives, the estimated employment creation in silk industry could be in the range of about 150,000 with 10000 Hectares of Mulberry Cultivation and corresponding creation of value and Supply chains in the country. • The Banana and Pineapple Fibers initiative can create an employment of over 100,000. by Raj-Rajendran

14. Expected REVENUE.. • The ultimate Export earnings could of the range of $250 Mil Per Year from Silk Exports. • The exports from Banana fibers can be over $5 Mil. per year and much more from the Handicraft items and textile production from the country. by Raj-Rajendran

15. Silk : From Soil to Neck Tie.. • UTEXRWA in Rwanda, is the only company in the whole world having a fully – vertically integrated Silk production facility, from Soil to neck- Tie (final product) under one roof. • This all have been made possible with in the last three years. by Raj-Rajendran

16. Our Further Development.. • Initiation taken to train the trainers from Kigali City for cocoon production • We further experimented, using Natural and vegetable dyes and created different samples. by Raj-Rajendran

17. With Other New Fibers.. • We are also simultaneously working on Banana and Pineapple leaf fiber production which can be emulated in the same model as that of Silk. • We have just ordered some Fiber Extractors, and we expect to be extracting Banana and Pineapple fibers by end of May 2009 in Rwanda and will have the trial production and develop products before the end of this year. by Raj-Rajendran

18. Technical Textiles… • agrotech:agriculture, aquaculture, horticulture and forestry • buildtech: building and construction • clothtech:technical components of footwear and clothing • geotech:geotextiles and civil engineering • hometech:technical components of furniture, household textiles and floor coverings • indutech:filtration, conveying, cleaning and other Industrial uses • medtech:hygiene and medical • mobiltech:automobiles, shipping, railways and aerospace • Ecokotech:environmental protection • packtech: packaging • protech:personal and property protection • sporttech:sport and leisure. by Raj-Rajendran

19. Our Real Life • ‘Weaving Dreams in to Prosperity’ by Raj-Rajendran

20. Thank you…! by Raj-Rajendran