BOI woos French food products giant Danone

BOI Chairman Sanjaya Mohottala (left) with Danone VP Global Public Affairs Facundo Etchebehere during their meeting in Paris last week 

The Board of Investment (BOI) last week held key talks with French food products giant Danone in Paris to generate transformational initiatives through sustainable organic farming. 

BOI Chairman Sanjaya Mohottala, during a visit to Paris, met with officials of Danone S.A., as part of an investment exploration visit to France. 

The successful meeting is part of a series of 20 such high-level discussions organised in Paris by leading private sector companies, finance institutions, and Government agencies, and the Chairman joins a delegation that comprises Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga and State Minister of Regional Co-operation Tharaka Balasuriya.  

BOI said mutually beneficial discussions were held with Danone S.A., as Sri Lanka presented its ambition to realise self-sufficiency in the dairy industry through the establishment of large-scale dairy enterprises, capable of spearheading support for medium-sized dairy farms. This, in turn, would empower over 230,000 cottage industries in Sri Lanka to generate added income streams, and further incentivise households that breed cattle for milk production.

As a leading multinational food products corporation, Danone S.A. also renewed their commitment to deploying and accelerating transformational programs through sustainable organic farming, owing to a common vision shared with Sri Lanka. 

This is especially relevant, given that Danone’s plant-based category could benefit significantly from functional attributes that stem from Sri Lanka’s rich heritage in Ayurveda and abundance of other plant-based materials.