Friday, 13 June 2014 01:51
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The 95th Annual General Meeting of the Colombo Rubber Traders’ Association will be held on Friday, 13 June 2014, at the Union Ballroom of the Hilton Colombo Residences (JAIC). The meeting will be attended by all stakeholders of the Rubber Industry which includes planters, traders, manufacturers and exporters of rubber.
Colombo Rubber Traders’ Association was formally inaugurated in November 1918, under the mission ‘To be the Premier Forum for Rubber’. The first Chairman of the CRTA was J. Lochore of Carson & Co. Ltd. The current Chairman who holds office is a veteran in the trade, he is M.S. Rahim of A.M. Rahim & Co. He counts over 40 years as an Exporter of Rubber and his versatility has guided the Association for the past five years.
The Chief Guest on this occasion will be Mahinda Samarasinghe, the Minister of Plantation industries. Samarasinghe entered active politics in 1988 and was elected to the Provincial Council of the Western Province. In 1994 he was elected to parliament from the Kalutara district. During the period 2001 – 2004, he served as the Cabinet Minister of Employment and Labour. He was the Government Chief Whip from 2001 – 2004 and the Opposition Chief Whip from 2004 – 2006. He joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in 2006 and served as Cabinet Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights from 2006 – 2010. He was a member in the Parliamentary Consultative Committees of the Ministries of Trade, Commerce, Industries, Finance and Foreign Affairs. Following the Parliamentary Elections in 2010, he was appointed Minister of Plantation Industries of Cabinet rank, in which capacity he is present today. The Minister continues to support and corporate with the Rubber Trade and many an amiable decisions has prevailed the harmony of the Rubber Trade in Sri Lanka.
