Make tea $ 2.5 b in exports – Bathiudeen

Thursday, 28 April 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce said yesterday it will support the Tea Board and the Ministry of Plantations, so that together the country can achieve $ 2.5 billion export revenue in the near future.

This assurance was given by Industries Minister Rishard Bathiudeen, when Chairman of the Sri Lanka Tea Board Susantha Ratnayake called on the former.

A point emphasised by Bathiudeen was that the laboratory that can test the cleanliness of Ceylon Tea – with which the Ministry partnered the Sri Lanka Tea Board with an investment of Rs. 18 million – must run at full efficiency, following which the Tea Board Chairman informed the Minister that the Ministry of Plantations was in the process of finalising a private-public partnership. The Minister agreed that it was a very good strategy.

Bathiudeen also committed Rs. 8.5 million for the Geographical Indicator (GI) registration in order to ensure that Ceylon Tea as a brand is protected in 20 countries this year, whilst another Rs.8.5 million will be committed for 2012, so that another 20 countries will get the cover of Ceylon Tea, which will strengthen the industry in moving towards the US$ 2.5 billion export revenue target, for which Ratnayake expressed his appreciation on behalf of the Sri Lanka Tea Board.

The Minister inquired about how Ceylon Tea could be marketed in Iraq and a commitment to visit Iraq by the Minister to drive the tea business there was mentioned, so that different business models could be pursued with the Iraqi officials. It was agreed that Ceylon Tea could once again command the leadership that it had in this market previously.

The Tea Board Chairman also briefed the Minister on the Tea Board’s many initiatives to ensure that the tea that is exported is clean and of the highest quality certified by the Sri Lanka Tea Board.

The Minister commended the Tea Cluster at the Ministry of Industries for the work done in supporting the Tea Board and the Ministry of Plantations on the key strategies to ensure that Ceylon Tea would be the highest quality tea available in the market globally.

Cluster Chairman Rohantha Athukorala mentioned that almost Rs. 7 million had been invested by the Industries Ministry on pesticide residue analytical studies, which are being championed by the Sri Lanka Tea Research Institute. This will further enhance the claim for Ceylon Tea to have its own quality standards that will be accepted around the world.

Sri Lanka Tea Board Director Marketing Hasitha De Alwis briefed the Minister on the key promotional strategies being implemented to drive stronger marketing of Ceylon Tea. Acting Director at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Rohan Jayatileka was also present.