State/News

MoU signed with Moratuwa University:

Generating employment opportunities in East urgent

Ananda WEDAARACHCHI

Kankesan cement factory which ceased to be in production since 1990, will resume operation as soon as a part of the revival plan to develop the industrial sector in the North and East, said Secretary, Ministry of Industrial Development R. V. D. Piyatileke.

In an exclusive interview with Daily News Business the Secretary said that the Cement Corporation will revive the Kankesan cement plant. Joint venture proposals have been received from several multi-national companies in the cement industry, he said.

One of the major urgent tasks in the Eastern Province is to generate employment opportunities including self-employment projects for youth.

He estimated 33,000 widows with small children are the victims of three decades of the war. "Funds have been allocated to start handloom weaving centres immediately for them," he said.

"Under the regional industrial development programme, three industrial estates will be set up in Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Eravur. The construction work of six factory buildings and organising infrastructure facilities for the industrial estate in Trincomalee which is being set up at Habarana, in a 50 acre land, has already commenced," he said.

"Disparity of infrastructure facilities among regions compared with the centre is one of the main obstacles for industrial development in the country. To overcome this situation the regional industrial development programme is implemented. Under the project, lands are identified in the regions and developed with the provision of major infrastructure facilities such as roads, electricity, water supply, telecommunication facilities. Up to now 23 industrial estates have been established and 198 industries are in commercial production and 77 factories are in production. A total of 15,251 employment opportunities has been created, he said.

Under the Gamata Karmantha programme which was introduced in 2006-2007 Budget, 111 industries are already set up with a total investment of Rs. 17,902 million providing 25,722 employment opportunities islandwide, he said.

Out of these investors, 27 investors are in commercial production, 26 are in the process of constructing buildings and machinery and 23 engage in preliminary works, he said.

"The industrial sector is an essential and prime force for the economic development of the country. In Sri Lanka, the industrial sector comprises a range of large corporate firms, small and medium scale enterprises, as well as micro household business, he said.

Industrial policy in Sri Lanka has being designed with a view to address key challenges and issues facing all these sectors and place them in a new higher growth path. With a view to achieving sustainable industrial development and addressing the development constraints an industrial policy framework consistent with Government policy framework of Mahinda Chintana has been designed and implemented, he said.

Explaining the last year industrial growth, he said the growth was mainly driven by the performance of industry and service which grew by 7.1 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively.

The growth momentum in the industrial sector in 2007 was mainly attributed to the dynamism in factory industry. Industrial sector contributed 21 per cent for GDP last year.

The industrial production exports contribute 78 per cent of the total export earnings. The performance in industrial products export grew by 9.6 per cent industrial sector which employs 1.8 million (26 per cent) of the entire total workforce, he said.

Piyatileke serves in the Export Development Board (EDB) and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) as a Director.

He strongly believes that the universities have a key role to play to change our industries from the local level to international level.

He said that only high quality products can capture the world market. Industrialists researchers and university academia must get together to solve the technical problems and achieve high quality standards for the products. In this regard two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) have been signed with the University of Moratuwa and the University of Colombo to conduct research and develop the quality levels of textile, leather, food, wood and wood based, packaging, rubber, and dye and mould sectors.

Explaining the importance of improving the dye and the mould manufacturing sector he said that only 20 per cent of the total requirement of dye and mould which is the base of most of industrial products are being manufactured now.

A proposal to set up a dye and mould facilitation and development centre at the University of Moratuwa was initiated and an MoU was signed by the relevant parties. For this purpose the University of Moratuwa has already allocated a part of its new building.

It has been planned to purchase the required equipment worth of Rs. 50 million for phase I. The total estimate of this project is Rs. 100 million, he said.

Singer honoured for their commitment to CSR

Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC was recognised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce as one of the country's "Ten Best Corporate Citizens," an award that pays tribute to the company's long-standing commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility.

Speaking about the honour, Commercial Director at Singer and member of its CSR committee Mahesh Wijewardena said: "We've always been unwavering in our belief that everyone in our community is an important stakeholder and we share a responsibility to ensure that as we grow, so do the living standards of our community. CSR is something that we've always been firmly behind, long before it became a corporate buzzword."

Singer (Sri Lanka) is heavily involved in initiatives that seek to protect the environment, build community relationships, improve health services, and upgrade sporting infrastructure, among others.

The company's dedication to being a responsible corporate citizen is shared by all levels of employees, a commitment that is reflected even in its approach to exploring new ways of engaging society said Call Centre Manager and member of the CSR Committee, Rohan Rogers.

Pepper Community Session and Meetings held in Vietnam

The 36th Session and Meetings of International Pepper Community was held at Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam Pepper Association and International Pepper Community.

This year's conference was attended by a large gathering representing countries such as Vietnam, Brazil, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and China being active participants. Many buyers from various parts of the world also attended the conference.

All the active members presented country papers with regard to production technology, quality, marketing and other relevant areas. This included future focus in production and marketing. Many issues were discussed on the lapses and progress made to date.

The Spice Council and the private sector of Sri Lanka were represented by the current Chairman D A Perera, Chairman Elect Nanda Kohona and Board Member M. I. Inshaf.

It was emphasised that value addition to pepper is more acceptable to the world than production for exports in bulk form. Minimum residue levels of chemicals were also highlighted at the meeting and all countries decided to follow a common testing method for pepper.

			    Total Export of Pepper from 
			       Producing Countries 
				(in Metric Tons)

Country	 		2006	                 2007                 2008(Est)
Vietnam			116,640			82,904			75,000	
Indonesia		35,545			38,000			47,000
Brazil			42,194			38,665			33,000
Malaysia		16,605			19,000			22,000
India			26,377			28,000			23,000
Sri Lanka		8,190			8,500			8,800
China, PR		3,000			3,000			5,000
Others (est)		5,408			5,500			5,500

TOTAL			235,989			223,569			219,300