Tea exporters have power to reposition Lanka

Tea exporters have the correct level of expertise to reposition Sri Lanka in the world, according to the Public Administration Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama.
Speaking at the Tea Traders Association Annual General Meeting (AGM) last week the Minister was quick in insist that the peace dividends would spark development for the industry and that they commanded a high level of respect from the world to facilitate not just their sphere but the entire country. However, he did not have much to respond with in the case of key industry quagmires that were pointed out by the outgoing Chairman A de Silva.
“We do not have sufficient industry representation at international forums and as a result most of the time when resolutions that are detrimental to Sri Lanka are passed we are looked over because no one is present to speak out for us. We need to address this issue immediately and ensure that the tea trade is ably represented at international forums,” he said.
De Silva also insisted that the cost of production was increasing and that the tea industry as a whole had to face massive challenges in the past year. With the global market virtually going into melt down mode he noted that it was the concentrated effort of local industry leaders that rectified the situation and made it tenable. He also insisted that it was necessary for chemicals that are used in the tea processing to be regulated as the current prices were spiking at an unprecedented level. The out-going Chairman also appealed to the government to assist them more, given that a significant amount of foreign exchange is earned to the country by them.
However in response Dr. Amunugama had little to say in regard to these key issues instead preferring to focus on the proliferation of the middle class worldwide that was creating a larger market for tea exports and advocating innovative marketing techniques to capture them in the expansion process. He also congratulated the exporters for exceeding the US$ 1 billion mark in earning and promised that the government would continue a dialog with them. (UJ)