Mr. Bandula Egodage, Chairman - Sri Lanka Export Development Board speaking at the press conference
Sri Lanka, Ethical Sourcing Destination
Colombo, Sri Lanka (PRWEB) June 16, 2015
A press conference themed 'Sri Lanka, ethical sourcing destination' was successfully completed on May 22, 2015 at Sri Lanka Pavilion of Expo Milano - the World Exposition, under the chair of Mr. Bandula Egodage – Chairman & Chief Executive Sri Lanka Export Development Board with the head table attendance of Ms. Ludovica Ghizzoni – Advisor ITC Geneva, Dr. David Doninetti – Secretary General AICE and Mr. Dammika Jayawardane – Pavilion Director Sri Lanka.
The press conference was facilitated by the Media Center of Expo Milano 2015. International Media, Commissioner Generals & Pavilion Directors of Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Slovakia, etc. attended it with great interest.
Expo Milano 2015 is organized under the theme, “Feeding the Planet – Energy for Life”. Sri Lanka, as an ethical sourcing destination, is well aligned with this global theme. Since the inauguration of the Fair, over 28000 people have, reportedly, visited the Sri Lankan Pavilion situated in the Fruits and Legumes Cluster.
The organizers of the Fair are quite confident that they can attract the targeted 20 million visitors during the exposition period of 6 months.
Egodage stated that Expo Milano 2015 will be a platform for global reach, particularly in re-establishing and strengthening bilateral relationships with the west, in the context of EU region accounting for over 31% of Export Revenue for Sri Lanka.
Further, he stressed that Sri Lanka’s export manufacturing sector is built on solid factors such as No use of child labor, No forced labor, No labor exploitation while maintaining Environmental Sustainability focusing on Green Factory concept, Waste and affluent Recycling, Water and fertilizer usage optimization under Green House concept, Ozone Friendly Manufacturing and ongoing efforts for Renewable Energy usage. His speech strongly appealed to the audience.
Both representatives from ITC and AICE strongly endorsed and validated Mr. Egodage’s statement with their own experience in Sri Lanka.
Ms. Ludovica of ITC, highlighting the long standing relationship between Sri Lanka and ITC, ensured continuous assistance to further improve Sri Lankan Trade.
Offering assistance to launch National Export Strategy, encouraging ICT / BPO sector, developing of E-Library and extending technical assistance to cinnamon GI registration are a few of the ongoing projects while improving Safety and Quality of Sri Lankan Fruit and Vegetable to enhance market accessibility particularly to the EU region.
Dr. Doninetti of AICE emphasized on the need to re-establish the initiatives already taken in 2013 for promotion of bilateral trade with Italy. At present, the value of trade between Italy and Sri Lanka stands at €600 million. He further emphasized on the need for further expansion of exports from Sri Lanka to have a positive trade balance. He assured that organizing outward missions and business matchmaking between Sri Lankan exporters and Italian importers would be facilitated by AICE toward that direction. Further, he requested the company profiles of Sri Lankan companies visiting and exhibiting at Expo Milano 2015 to enable AICE to make appropriate matchmaking.
Buyers who attend Expo Milano 2015 can visit Sri Lankan Pavilion in the Fruit & Legumes Cluster. Also, any buyer who's interested in sourcing from Sri Lanka can visit EDB Website or contact EDB on +94-11-230-0705 / 11 (GMT + 5:30 Hours) or via edb(at)tradenetsl(dot)lk. They can also access valuable information on Sri Lankan Exporters from http://www.srilankabusiness.com/exporters-directory or from http://www.srilankabusiness.com/emarketplace/
About Sri Lanka Export Development Board
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board, usually known as EDB, is Sri Lanka's apex organization for the promotion and development of exports. EDB mainly exports Ceylon Tea, Apparel, Rubber & Rubber-based Products, Coconut & Coconut-based Products, Gem & Jewellery & Diamond Cutting & Polishing services, Spices & Allied Products and Food & Beverage. Sri Lankan Exporters heavily rely on EDB for successfully running their export enterprises.
Malani Baddegamage
Director – IT
Sri Lanka Export Development Board
+94 11 2300679