Two Lankan companies participate in Coverings Exhibition 2007

The Coverings Exhibition, an exhibition of Ceramic tile and stone design, was held this year in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Lanka Walltile Limited and its subsidiary Lanka Tiles Limited were the only two Sri Lankan Companies that participated in the prestigious international exhibition where over 30,000 manufacturers, distributors and retailers of ceramic and stone exhibited their latest products.

Lanka Walltile Limited (LWL) has been exhibiting its products for over 15 consecutive years at the Coverings and this year the Managing Director, Lucky de Chickera, Deputy General Manager, Niranjan Jayawickreme and Asst. Factory Manager (Meepe factory) Nihal Kumarasinghe represented the company.

The exhibition this year was held in Chicago, as against the previous years when it was regularly held in Orlando, Florida. Visitors at this year's exhibition running over the four days exceeded 35,000, an increase of over 15% over the previous year.

'Over 60% of our exports go to the north American Market consisting of the US and Canada on a regular basis' said the MD. 'We displayed our new range of products with the help of our distributor in California M/s. Tile Shop of Berkeley.'Reflections', 'Compagna', 'Isole' and 'Metro' were some of the series that attracted a lot of attention and enquiries', he said.

There were many interested buyers from all parts of the US and Canada whilst requests for prices and samples were also received from distant places such as Guatemala, Porto Rica, Granada and Nigeria.

'We are hopeful that this year's exhibition will bring in more buyers than before and are gearing up to service our existing and new foreign customers at an increased level', said De Chickera.

The LWL delegates also visited other US markets in Berkeley California, Montreal and Toronto in Canada and Hong Kong and Singapore, strengthening existing export markets.