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| Sunday, 21 December 2003 |
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EDB to open exhibition centre in Chennai The Export Development Board (EDB) will invest Rs 50 million on a permanent exhibition and display centre in Chennai, India, which will be opened late January 2004. The EDB will rent out premises in the most prestigious shopping complex in Chennai, Spencer Plaza, to set up this exhibition and display centre. The Board has already selected 15 exporting companies who could cater to the demand in India. They will be able to house their offices and display their products at this permanent export window. The main objective of this programme is to create an awareness of Sri Lankan products among Indians and increase exports to India, said EDB Chairman, Ratna Sivaratnam. He said that India is a huge market which can be penetrated, specially niche markets, by promoting permanent exhibition centres of this nature. Sivaratnam said the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has opened up many avenues through which we will be able to promote local products in a more splendid manner. This is the first time that export companies will gather under one umbrella to promote Sri Lankan products in India to reap the benefits of the FTA, he said. EDB Consultant, Manel Panditasekera-Rodrigo said John Keells Foods, Munchi, Maliban, Brandix, Mlesna, SriLankan Airlines and the Sri Lanka Tourist Board will be some of the organisations which will set up their display centres at the complex. For this project, the EDB has allocated the third floor of the complex, which has 19,000 sq feet in toto. More than 15,000 people are said to visit the complex daily while more than 50,000 visit the complex during the weekend. She said an Indian market research company had done a market survey for the EDB to identify potential markets. The 15 exporters will cover footwear, spices, confectioneries, tea and many more items. According to Panditasekera-Rodrigo, they intend to promote the concept in major towns in India in the future. In the meantime, the EDB will invest another one million rupees for the promotion of an online trading web portal to support Small and Medium Enterprises. This is the country's only e-market place, which enables Sri Lankan exporters to sell their products online worldwide. The portal was launched two months ago. More than 30 companies have registered with it out of which 20 companies have displayed their products, Deputy Director, EDB TradenetSL, Chitranganie Mubarak said. Upto now, more than US$ 1000 worth of transactions have been done via the portal, said Senior Systems Engineer, Jeewapadma Sandagomi. (HS) |
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