President joins 30th anniversary celebrations of global joint venture with De La Rue

President Maithripala Sirisena visited De La Rue Lanka Ltd on Monday (9th May) to mark the 30th anniversary of the joint venture between the Government of Sri Lanka and De La Rue, the leading global identity business. The government holds a 40% share in the very successful joint venture, which employs over 300 people in the region. 



The President was joined at the factory by the British High Commissioner, James Dauris, and the Chief Executive of De La Rue, Martin Sutherland.  Together they met key members of staff and toured the facility, which produces 1 billion high quality currency notes a year for the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as well as currencies for a significant number of (30) other countries around the world.

Speaking at the event, the President commented: “The fact that we are today celebrating 30 years of working together is a testament to the skills and capabilities of our Sri Lankan people, and the fact that we can play a significant role in the global economy. Partnerships like this are exactly what Sri Lanka needs to cement its reputation as a destination for investment from global companies. I look forward to many years of continued success for this venture.”

British High Commissioner James Dauris added: “De La Rue Lanka Pvt Ltd is a prime example of a very successful Public Private Partnership between our two countries. It has now been successfully operating for three decades, employing over 300 highly trained Sri Lankans and producing over Rs1 billion bank notes every year for the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and other countries around the world. The UK is proud of British businesses like De La Rue that have over 200 years of experience in innovation and offer world class products and solutions.”

De La Rue supplies currency, passports and tax stamps to over 140 countries globally. Speaking at the event, Martin Sutherland, the Chief Executive commented: “For our business to operate on a truly global scale, we need the very best partners. We are delighted to have been working with the government and people of Sri Lanka for the last 30 years. Earlier this year, we announced that we have also chosen this site to be one of the three key international centres of excellence for global bank note production, together with Gateshead in the UK and Nairobi in Kenya.  As a result we will be investing locally to upgrade equipment, technology and skills to further enable De La Rue Lanka to compete effectively on a global scale. We look forward to our partnership going from strength to strength in the future.”