|
|
|
  |
| Sunday, 20 March 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Lankan packaging companies win Asia stars by Elmo Leonard The most important event in the calendar of the packaging industry, the Lanka Star and Asia Star awards is scheduled to take place on April 1 at the Continental Hotel in Colombo. The packaging industry is the silent salesman who ensures a return to the producer, protects the rights of the consumer, adds value to the product and in the case of export products, enhances the economy of the exporter nation. The Lanka Star awards, the 10th in a series of biennial events to honour excellence in packaging has this time netted in winners from Ma's Tropical Food, Wilton Metal Box, Universal Packaging, Euro Scan, Standard Trading, Mabroc Teas, JF&I, AMJ Industries, Midiya Packaging, and Tin Pack. The Asia Star winners from among the Lanka Star winners were judged in Tokyo, by the Asian Packaging Federation (APF) at the APF's annual sessions. The Asia Star winner companies are Universal Packaging, Ache Industries and Packaging, Packages Lanka, Flexi Prints, Varna Ltd and Metal Packaging. Mabroc Tea won the Sri Lanka Institute of Packaging (SLIP) President's award and again the APF President's Award at the Asia Stars contest. The SLIP president and APF president is Dharmatilake Ratnayake. Ratnayake is also the vice president of the World Packaging Federation (WPO), the apex body empowering the packaging industries worldwide. Ratnayake ensured WPO funds of $10,000 to hold the awards night in review and the other packaging programs which coincide with the Sri Lanka Week of Packaging. A Student Star contest was held simultaneously with the Lanka Star contest and the winners entered the Asia Student Star contest and all these winners will receive their awards at the April 1 awards night. The Packaging Week will also include a two-day seminar organised for the benefit of senior and junior managers engaged in the packaging industry. The resource persons will be international experts in packaging from India and South Africa, Ratnayake said. A two-day seminar for shop floor workers and supervisors will also be conducted in Sinhala by a panel of resource persons of the local packaging industry. In addition, a seminar for students will be held at Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo in Sinhala free to encourage school-leavers to take up to packaging as a profession. Meanwhile, a month-long program of training-the-trainer in packaging in Mumbai, India, with six of the 25 participants being Sri Lankans will begin on March 27. The participants are packaging personnel drawn from the 16-member APF nations encompassing the Asia Pacific region. The Indian Institute of Packaging in Mumbai conducts the seminar, drawing from $25,000 of APF funds obtained by Sri Lankan Dharmatilake Ratnayake. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
