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| Sunday, 28 April 2002 |
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Foundation laid for more relief to consumers The Ministry of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, under the 100-day revolution, has achieved great strides in promoting commerce with emphasis being laid on promoting external trade, a news release from the Ministry said. The Department of Commerce has initiated measures to promote local exports to many new destinations and encourage foreign investment into the country that will bring in foreign exchange. According to the release, Minister Ravi Karunanayake has directed officials to set targets to achieve high export volume from Sri Lanka to areas hitherto untapped. Several trade promotion activities have been earmarked through trade commissioners stationed in different countries and instructions given, making them answerable for any lapses in promoting the country's produce. The Minister has instructed the Director General of the Department of Commerce Lal Hewage to appoint trade promotion officers to countries with greater potential for exports. The countries that have been earmarked include China, Japan, Russia, Pakistan and India. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has released funds for the staging of the seminar on the WTO agreement in Colombo in June. In another significant development, successful discussions were held with several officials of the European Union to provide enhanced market access for Sri Lankan products and financial support under its multilateral trade assistance programme. The Minister has directed the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) to further expand its activities as an importer, local buyer and distributor of essential commodities and to give the customer a better deal in terms of products and price. More than 40 non-viable CWE outlets have been ordered to shut down or moved to more viable areas to turn around the organisation, the release further said. Twenty four-hour operations at CWE outlets have generated an additional revenue of nearly Rs. 35.2 million over the 100-day period. This operation has not affected the cost of running the shops. The launch of the first of the 100 Super Malls in Welisara in March has transformed the CWE's old retail outlook to a more pleasant, effective and colourful shopping experience for customers. For the first time, the CWE has co-opted services such as banks, pharmacies and frozen meat products to the range of essentials. Nearly 4000 items of reputed brand names are now available at the Welisara outlet, which is bar-coded and fully computerised. Plans are also afoot to expand the Rajagiriya and Jawatta road shops. They are expected to be completed in August. Following the peace initiatives of the government, the CWE has opened franchise shops in areas such as Vavuniya, Vishwamadhu and Pallai. To provide transparency in all its dealings, the CWE has launched a website to give details of all tender transactions, offers and opportunities to the general public. On January 1, an independent monitoring unit to attend to and entertain suggestions from customers pertaining to affairs of the Ministry and all other departments under its purview was established. This opened the doors to effective communications between the public and the administration. The Customer Care Unit that operates on a 24-hour basis is growing to be an important channel of communication whereby customer feedback on the services provided is monitored and immediate remedial action taken to the satisfaction of consumers besides improving services. The release also said that under the 100-day programme, the National Intellectual Property Office is in the process of preparing a new law on intellectual property where the first draft has already been prepared. The preparation of an electronic database on patents, creating a better environment for the collection and dissemination of intellectual property information including the establishment of a website and organising two seminars on copyright and e-commerce as part of a public outreach programme are also considered. The Inventors Commission of Sri Lanka has conducted six awareness programmes for students and teachers in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa along with the launch of a new web page for the Commission during the 100-day programme. Lanka General Trading Company Ltd. had organised an 'Avurudu' sale to liquidise slow moving items which was followed by the reintroduction of Boge shock absorbers from Germany and Crocodile brand mammoties from the UK at a reduced price, the release said. |
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