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| Sunday, 8 September 2002 |
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Intrad 2002 : Major impetus for exports Intrad 2002 Sri Lankas premier Exhibition and Investor Forum was held from September 4 - 6 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) Colombo. About 100 companies displayed a wide range of high quality and innovative goods and services at the exhibition while buyers from Australia, Canada, Dubai, Germany, Netherlands, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and UK participated at this fair. The opening ceremony was held on September 4 and the chief guest on the occasion was Minister of Power and Energy Karu Jayasuriya. Minister Jayasuriya addressing the gathering outlined the steps taken by the UNF government to usher peace and prosperity to the country. He said "our vision is to govern and we will ensure good governance and sound economic policies for the benefit of the private sector while wealth creation will be handed over to the private sector." He assured that within the next five years the government will provide electricity to the whole country and with new power projects getting off the ground, electricity will be available at competitive rates. Minister of Enterprise Development,Industrial policy and Investment Promotion professor G.L. Peiris said that reorganising of structures and mechanisms , bringing all line ministries engaged in the exports under one umbrella and helping exporters to increase value addition are some of the steps taken by the UNF government to promote exports. Minister of Foreign Affairs Tyronne Fernando said " there are over half billion Bangladeshis travelling out as tourists. During my visit to Dhaka I commenced negotiations to tap this potential market as we are now attempting to attract tourist from the South Asian region." He said INTRAD this year assumes particular significance as there is renewed hope and optimism due to the ongoing peace process initiated by the UNF govenment. Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Ravi Karunanayake said that the governments intention is to promote exports by expanding the horizon of the exporters. Electronic Data Interchange linking the customs, port, airlines and shipping lines will be a reality by January 2003. It was organised by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka. The main export sectors promoted at the exhibition were apparel and textiles, ceramic and porcelain, coconut based products, cut flowers and foliage, gems and jewellery, furniture amd wood products, handicrafts, toys and gift items, leather products, ornamental fish, rubber products, tea, spices amd essential oils as well as export related services technology and machinery. An investor forum was held concurrent to the exhibition on the theme " invest in Sri Lanka the Hub of Asia. |
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