Budget will boost local industries: Dr. Amunugama

“The growth of the Sri Lankan economy demands that new industries such as packaging and printing should raise their standards and serve both local and regional manufacturers” said Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama at the opening of the 40th Anniversary celebration of the Sri Lanka Institute of Packaging held at Kingsbury last week.

He said that the agriculture and manufacturing component of Sri Lanka’s GDP had not shown a significant increase. On the other hand, the Services Sector has expanded rapidly.  This is a good sign as in the modern world science and technology applications are a good sign of economic health.  However, the Manufacturing Sector has to increase its contribution because it is the main source of earning from exports of the country.  However, the new trend is to integrate the Manufacturing and Services sectors as many of the services are embedded in the Manufacturing Sector of modern industrial societies.

The Minister also said that printing and packaging services which had small beginnings 40 years ago had now developed into a very important component of Sri Lanka’s exports.  The Apparel, Tea, Gem and Jewelry and Processed food industries all depend on good packaging.  Printing and packaging costs in the developed world are becoming more expensive and countries like Sri Lanka which has the expertise in this area have the potential of becoming hubs.  The Government will do everything to promote Sri Lanka as a printing and packaging hub said the Minister.  The forthcoming budget will be very friendly to local manufacturers and it was up to the industry to make use of the stability of the country and the new progressive economic policies to speedily develop the printing and packaging industry.

The Minister also paid a warm compliment to all the participants of the packaging trade who were present and said that they had made a sterling contribution not only to economic growth but also to the providing of employment and to the upgrading of the use of modern technology in the country.

The President of the Institute of Packaging J D C Perera and Razik Zarook also spoke.