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By L. S. A. Wedaarachchi

The western book printing industry is valued at US$ two-hundred billion globally. If the printing industry in Sri Lanka can capture a fraction of the western market the printing industry can make a major contribution to the local economy.

The President of the Sri Lanka Association of Printers, Keerthi Gunawardana said, that the printing industry needs to do two things to be able to compete in the global market.

"First, we need to ensure quality and to keep pushing the bar higher and higher. This would need new investments in state- of-the art technology and ancillary services. We also need to attract new people into the industry, provide them an opportunity to learn the art and then to practise it, he said.

The Sri Lanka Association of Printers completes fifty years of protecting and promoting the printing industry in Sri Lanka, this year. Commending the government's decision to grant duty free concessions for prime raw material to the industry, paper and boards, Gunawardana said that the challenge is with the printing industry at present to prove their capability, since the long-awaited requests were granted.

"Over the past forty-nine years we have seen our membership expand monumentally, we started with just forty-six members in 1956 and at the beginning of last year our membership reached three-hundred. Yet this represents only ten percent of the industry and we are hopeful that this figure will continue to grow, he said.

The print media serves a major role of the development process of a society especially in regard to dissemination of knowledge. Sri Lanka has a high literacy rate compared to its neighbouring countries. Sri Lanka's printing industry itself developed aggressively last year. The high standards and the high quality of Sri Lanka's printing were clearly seen at the "Print 2005" exhibition at the BMICH last July. It was the biggest event in the print industry calendar in Sri Lanka.

"For an industry that is developing so fast the value of state-of-the art technology cannot be overemphasized. State-of-the art technology not only produces better quality printing, but also reduces costs and opens a myriad of opportunities for new designs. Globalisation has opened new vistas that we least imagined a few years ago.

However, to be able to compete in the global market and to grab a share of this lucrative market the printing industry in the country needs to be equipped with appropriate technology.

The industry also needs the technical skills to be able to make the best use of printing technology.

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