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Massive response from UK businessmen for Lankan trade exhibition
Friday, 23 June 2006 - 5:38 AM SL Time
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The largest-ever Sri Lankan trade exhibition held in the United Kingdom kicked off with a massive response from the UK business community here on Wednesday.
`We started 10 minutes ago and buyers have already expressed interest in our products,` said R.S. Balanathan, whose Kandy-based silk manufacturing company, Ko Lanka Pure Silk (Pvt) Ltd is the chief manufacturing plant for silks in Sri Lanka.
Coastland Coconut Exports, one of Sri Lanka`s largest manufacturers and exporters of coconut, secured an export order even before the fair opened officially.
`I got an export order for four containers of fresh coconut a month. I am happy with the outcome. I hope more and more orders will come my way,` coconut manufacturer M.S.T. Aman said.
Fifty eight Sri Lankan businesses ranging from multinationals such as the country`s largest apparel exporter Brandix and diamond exporter Blue Diamonds Jewellery Worldwide Ltd to small and medium-scale manufacturers like paper and cloth lamp shade exporter Badu, handicraft exporter Ecoeye, coconut wood-based product manufacturer Jana Crafts, decorative candle-maker Mihikatha Promotions, timber furniture manufacturer Moriah and a whole host of tea, gem and jewellery exporters were present.
The `Serendib` trade fair held at Covent Garden`s New Connaught Room, added the trade dimension to an ongoing Sri Lankan culture, tourism and trade promotion titled `Refreshingly Sri Lanka,` launched last week.
`The UK is Sri Lanka`s largest trading partner in the EU and this explains why we have organised this exhibition in London with the announcement by the EU of the zero-duty marker access under the EU GSP+ scheme to well over 7,200 products from Sri Lanka, this exhibition provides a perfect opportunity to set the choice for British companies of Sri Lankan products and services that can be exported at very competitive prices,` Kshenuka Senewiratne, Sri Lanka`s High Commissioner in London said at the opening of the three-day trade event.
According to Senewiratne, the exhibition is not merely about securing contracts for products but also about networking and improving knowledge in the relevant product sectors while gaining important marketing skills.
The Export Development Board (EDB) of Sri Lanka, which worked very closely with the Sri Lanka High Commission in London to make this trade event a reality, has gone a step further to give the right exposure to exhibitors by hiring an event management company that has arranged on average 10-15 one-to-one meetings for the exhibitors with potential UK companies.
The `Serendib` trade fair is a continuation of a trade programme conducted by the EDB in Colombo last year. `But we are doing it on a larger scale here, especially with the participation of businesses affected by the tsunami,` EDB`s deputy director Jeevani Siriwardena said.
According to Enterprise Development and Investment Minister Rohitha Bogollagama the presence of tsunami-affected companies at the exhibition spoke volumes about the resilience of the island`s business community.
`You will see how resilient we have been. Despite losing 30,000 people within a span of 20 minutes, we are back in business. That`s the resilience of our economy, industrial base. Sometimes the clouds of terrorism may fly over us but that has not held us back,` Bogollagama said delivering the keynote address.
UK is Sri Lanka`s second largest export market (after the USA) importing ?416 million worth of goods in 2005 for the eight per cent stock of foreign direct investments it has in Sri Lanka. In return, Sri Lanka imported ?124 million worth British goods last year.
Senaka Silva, chairman of leather manufacturing plant, Os-Leather-(Pvt) Ltd, was in the UK to increase his existing British and European clientele, which comprises 50 per cent of his customers.
`Most of our clients are from UK and EU. I thought the exhibition will be a good opportunity to attract new clients,` said Silva, who felt that Sri Lanka needed to make good news through exhibitions like these.
`We always get negative news, other than when we occasionally win a cricket match. This is very good. It shows that Sri Lanka is a vibrant economy and that everybody is taking a part in developing it.`
The trade exhibition was a novel experience for Denzil Fernando, a first-timer at an international trade fair. His company, Nadeeshani Wooden Toys, has exported products through Laksala but the entrepreneur was hoping to secure direct export deals on his own by being present at the trade fair.
`Serendib` was an opportunity to celebrate the already existing ties between the UK and Sri Lanka, said Stephen Timms, UK`s Chief Secretary to the Treasury, speaking at the inauguration of `Serendib.`
`Sri Lanka I think is particularly attractive as an export destination for small and medium sized businesses with some exposure in exports.
`It`s an ideal location for acting as a gateway for the sub continent and South-East Asia, sitting on principle shipping routes under the emergence of an ever flatter, more globalised world economy,` he said.
Meanwhile, Blue Diamonds Jewellery Worldwide Ltd, a member of Ceylinco Consolidated, showcased a diamond-studded soccer ball the size of a table-tennis ball at the largest trade exhibition held by Sri Lanka in London.
The company, the first in Sri Lanka to have produced a product to mark the ongoing Soccer World Cup, expects to launch a specialised range of soccer jewellery depending on the interest shown in this Sterling Pound 5,000 worth product.
According to the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka, one of the main organisers of the `Serendib` trade fair being held in the United Kingdom between June 21 and 23, 1,000 to 2,000 trade buyers are expected to show an interest in the Sri Lankan jewellery sector represented at the exhibition.
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sanspace
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 198
Member Profile
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23 Jun 2006 05:21:35 GMT Report for Abuse
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So much more can be done if only the stupid governments knew how to offer a devolution package for the North and East and get on with it. The Tamils will take care of LTTE once they have some security from the government. Why waste military resources, life and huge operational expenses that can be used for development.
People make a big noise about Ranil having handed over this and that to LTTE. In reality, in this little time that Mahinda has been in office, he has spent a good deal of time ferrying LTTE around the country and the world and generally bent down to all their demands of talks etc. Ranil brought peace for 2 years. LTTE killed a lot of their own kind during this time but the country progressed. So decide which is more relevant. |
AnilSV
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 97
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23 Jun 2006 07:34:31 GMT Report for Abuse
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@Naleen,
I thought You R a person with some integrity
other than just barking at the GOV for whatever
they do & they don't.
Look at the way this GOV is exploring the boundaries,
had You seen anything anybetter in the previous ones?
Get Ur brain tested, mate.. You R a sick person.
AnilSV.
Edited By - AnilSV - 23 Jun 2006 07:41:49 GMT |
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