Sri Lanka Print Media Academy holds AGM

Zakir Kamrudeen, Chairman of Papercom Traders and Shalon Machinery & Services Ltd., was elected as President of the Sri Lanka Print Media Academy (SLPMA) at the fourth Annual General Meeting of the Academy, held recently at the Hotel Ramada.

In his speech, Kamrudeen said that the vision of the printing industry was to become the ‘printing hub’ of Asia and stressed that this could be achieved as the SLPMA aims to enhance awareness and aptitude by means of cutting-edge proficient curricula for print operatives already in the trade as well as provide basic industry training for those entering the profession, adding value to all sectors of human resources.

The President also focused on how to develop the printing industry and explained that it required commitment and dedication to take it to the next level.  With SLPMA at the helm, it needed the backing of all SLPMA and SLAP members to actively participate to help the incoming office bearers to develop the printing industry by enriching the core competencies of the technological and skilled workers to achieve the highest quality standards.  

“Presently, the printing industry is facing a huge crisis due to a dearth in skilled workers. The cause for this setback is that the younger generation is not aware of the value and impact of the printing and packaging industry in Sri Lanka.  Firstly, I believe that we have to change their mind set.  Our education system does not extend their vocational training programs like countries like UK, USA, China and India, to name a few, where the universities have designed a system to enable their students to qualify at PHD level.

“Unfortunately, our country has not admired these industries, which could flourish internationally and have an impact on our economy.  The SLPMA has identified the weaknesses and working on a five year plan to develop these areas and fulfil the requirements of the printers and provide aggressive skilled workers who think and act differently.”

Kamrudeen further stressed that the way forward is strategically to focus on different development programs, e.g. machine operators, designers, production planning, HR related, workshops, training programs, seminars, etc., within the next two years.

This in turn will increase productively to meet the challenge of penetrating the global market and thus widen the scope and potential of the Sri Lanka printers to compete internationally.