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| Sunday, 24 August 2003 |
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Tea, the highlight in Colombo A series of events in the global tea industry took place in Sri Lanka last week. It included the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organisation's (FAO) 15th session of the Inter Governmental Group on Tea, held from August 18 to 20. To coincide with this, the Colombo Tea Traders Association (CTTA), a 109-year old industrial body, and the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) organised an International Tea Convention and Exhibition. It was a landmark occasion as Sri Lanka is hosting the Inter Governmental Conference on tea for the first time. The exhibition held at the new exhibition centre of the BMICH from August 20-23 brought together everyone related to the industry from the "Leaf to the Cup" under one roof. There were 88 stalls displaying a variety of teas from the hills to the low growns as wells as different packaging, utensils, machinery and supporting services such as insurance and freight. The chief guest at the opening was George Pelpola, Chairman SLTB while the guest of honour was Mahen Dayananda, Chairman CTTA. Competitiveness is the buzz word in tea today and the 21st century has seen the emergence of tea as an exciting and refreshing beverage, Minister of Plantation Industries, Lakshman Kiriella told the opening of the Tea Convention. "Earnings from tea exports were over Rs 60 billion in 2002 and contributed three per cent to the national GDP. Although we are happy with the performance of the low grown sector, the same cannot be said of the once 'much sought after' high grown and mid grown teas, which have shown a decline in production. However, no longer can the tea companies be content with marketing just one type or brand of tea. We need to expand to be competitive," he said. The theme 'DiversiTea in SpecialiTea' is timely since this would provide both local and foreign delegates an opportunity to broaden their horizons on current global trends, the Minister said. Dayananda said four events are taking place during the week - the FAO's Inter-Governmental Group on Tea, International Tea Convention, International Tea exhibition and industry-related workshops. R.L. Juriansz, Chairman, Tea Convention Sub-Committee said millions of people are directly or indirectly involved in the tea industry. All are shareholders of the industry, and should be involved in making tea the preferred beverage of the 21st century. "People today are looking for something innovative. Globalisation is a much used word today and as much as competitiveness is the buzz word, so is globalisation". "Our attitude should be positive; instead of being scared of the rain, we must invest in an umbrella. This is the sort of attitude we should adopt in the tea industry. "There will be many setbacks, but we must not be deterred," encouraged Juriansz. |
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