In an era of modern technology Sri Lankan industrialists should be groomed to be par to global standards opined Minister of Industries Wimal Weerawansa at ‘Kinihiraye Pipunu Mala’ felicitation program organized by the Sri Lanka Metal Foundry Industrialists Association to pay gratitude to the minister for his initiatives.
“We live in an era shedding light on cutting-edge technology thus we must groom Sri Lankan industrialists to rub shoulders with global standards. We have implemented policies to retain raw material within the country for the benefit of local industrialists. We offer solutions to exporters of essential raw material without keeping the local producers at bay. Saubhagyaye Dekma’ is the brainchild of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and under this initiative we adopted a policy to safeguard Sri Lankan industrialists via ‘Made in Sri Lanka’ concept,” he said.
Sri Lankan products with global standards carrying the ‘Made in Sri Lanka’ tag would enter the international market to develop the market for those products and enhance revenue.
“Thus we invite industrialists and SMEs to invest more in local ventures without any doubt. Yet their responsibility is to produce commodities for the benefit of consumers to create win-win situations. Do not take the upper hand for enjoying monopolies in the marketplace. Local producers must invest on NPD to add value to their products and cross the threshold of entering the international arena”,
Clay, Cane, Brass, Furniture and Rural Industry Promotion State Minister Prasanna Ranaweera and State Minister of Batik, Handloom and Local Apparel Products Dayasiri Jayasekera also attended the event held at Waters Edge.
Minister Ranaweera said, President Rajapaksa’s vision is to empower local producers while maintaining sustainable economic development in Sri Lanka and he invited the public to be a partner in this national initiative to ensure the sustainability and stability of SMEs.
Local industries at present contribute around 26.4 percent to the national GDP, and around 10 percent to exports.
“Scrap metal, an essential raw material for the manufacture of metal, was sold to other countries. Minister Weerawansa took steps to halt export of this much needed raw material and made it available for the local metal manufacturers. As a result, the capacity of our local metal industry has increased tremendously. New avenues of metal-related exports are now being explored. Job opportunities have opened up for the youth,” said Sri Lanka Metal Foundry Industrialists Association Director/Secretary K L D C Sanjeewa.
He also suggested Gampaha and Kandy to be made as areas dedicated for producing brass related products.
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