Chile wants to buy tea

Chile, a major tea consuming country, is looking at the possibility of sourcing tea from India and planning to invest here in agro-processing sector.

"In view of the huge demand for tea in chile, we have held talks with a number of tea planters here for sourcing quality indian tea," Chilean ambassador Jorge Heine said.

He said India, a major tea exporter in world market, should focus on organic tea. The Tea Board should take step to spread awareness about the same among the planters.

Chile was also looking for cooperation in the fields of mining, it and agro-processing sectors. Given Chile's expertise in agro-processing and the huge wastage of agro-products in India, Chile was planning to invest in this sector in India.

"We have set up an agricultural attache office here. We are looking forward to invest in agro-processing in india, which will also benefit the indian agro sector, which lacks effective system to preserve and process the agro products".

The country, which had a bilateral trade volume of about $260 million in 2002, also wanted to enhance the trade ties. Heine said, "Our trade volume with india has trebled in last five years, but still it is not significant. We are looking forward to increase in in coming years".