Ayurveda sector can play vital role to develop N and E

Ayurveda 2009 International Ayurveda Exhibition and Symposium organised by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) was held at the BMICH from May 23-25, with many Sri Lankan and International participants. The Exhibition was ceremonially opened by Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on May 23 with the presence of many foreign dignitaries. The Prime Minister said that developing local industries such as Ayurveda is a priority of the Government and would extend his fullest support to make Ayurveda a key contributor to the GDP of Sri Lanka.

Chairman of Ayurveda 2009, Asoka Hettigoda mentioned that NCCSL was extremely proud to hold the Ayurveda 2009 as the First International Exhibition since liberating Sri Lanka from the menace of terrorism and was thankful to President Mahinda Rajapaksa for creating a peaceful environment in Sri Lanka. He also mentioned that Ayurveda sector can play a vital role in developing the North and the East and would take up the President's challenge to support the revival of Sri Lankan Economy by popularising the concept of Ayurveda health services, growing Ayurvedic Herbs etc. President of NCCSL, Lal De Alwis, mentioned that NCCSL initiated the promotion of Ayurveda industry by first organising Ayurveda 2007 and continuing its efforts to further strengthen the industry, has organised Ayurveda 2009.

Private-public partnership

Ayurveda 2009 was organised as a private-public partnership where several Government ministries and private sector companies jointly sponsored the event.

The co-sponsors were Ministries of Indigenous Medicines, Export Development and International Trade, Tourism, and Industrial Development, Siddhalepa, Baraka, Link Natural, Janet Real Herbs, Sri Lanka Telecom, Bank of Ceylon, Tree of Life, SriLankan Airlines, Colombo Hilton, National Savings Bank, ITN, Lakhanda, Lankadeepa, Daily Mirror, and Veerakesari.

Exhibitors from eight countries, including Sri Lanka, India, Germany, UK, China, and Japan, ranging from the largest companies to the small-medium enterprises, totalling 130 companies participated at Ayurveda 2009.

Best Sri Lankan Ayurveda Companies who produce traditional, Cosmetics, Spa and Branded Ayurvedic products, Ayurveda Health Resorts, foreign natural product companies, Natural Beverage companies, Yoga Centres, Meditation Centres, Booksellers of Ayurvedic, Meditation and Yoga, Medicinal Plant growers and sellers, etc., were present at the exhibition.

This year the Ayurveda 2009 had several special exhibits which highlighted the marvels of indigenous medicines such as: Treatment for Poisonous snake bites and the display of poisonous reptiles; Bali Thovil - a form of Ayurvedic Blessings; Astrologers; pavilion to meet traditional Ayurvedic Doctors; creating awareness on Medicinal Plants, etc. In addition, several banks were also present to promote their products and services to SME sector.

The exhibition also had booths to try out meditation, palm reading, model distillation plants etc.

Business Promotion Fund, a CSR project of the NCCSL funded by the Royal Netherlands Government to assist small and medium companies, had their own pavilion which included 14 companies in different industry sectors. Some of these companies are already exporting and others got a tremendous boost by attending the exhibition.

Symposium

Concurrent to the exhibition, an Ayurvedic Symposium was organised by Dr. Danister Perera, Former Registrar of Ayurveda, to share the new trends and findings among the local medical community.

The symposium had several speakers and participants from countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Japan, Russia, China, and Singapore.

It consisted of five sessions focussed on Workshop of Rational use of Rasa Medicine, Wellness Tourism and Ayurveda, Pharmacovigilance and Ayurveda Market, Quality Control in Ayurveda, Globalization of Ayurveda, and Recent Advancements in Sri Lankan Ayurveda Research.