Minister Daya Gamage calls for greater efforts to promote Ayurvedic eco-tourism

Nature has bestowed with multiple blessings to our country what other countries of the globe are very much lacking. Hence we have to focus our minds on the blessing we have received from nature, with excellent natural resources including the climate vegetation, water resources, minerals and gems, along with the indigenous knowledge to treat and heal diseases of variety. “This provides us an excellent opportunity to attract more tourists to our country and will help increase our foreign earnings, via the Ayurvedic eco-tourism,” said Primary Industries Minister Daya Gamage.

Primary Industries Minister Daya Gamage was the chief guest at the two-day international conference on the ‘Entrepreneurship Development Program’, organised by the Rajagiriya Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine.

The Minister was received by Dr. Hapuarachchi, the Head of the Institute and Dr. Silva was the coordinator of the program. 

Addressing the students attending the conference Minister Gamage said the Ministry shoulders responsibility, and has the mandate to address the development of primary industries in the country.

Touching on the fact there was a great demand in the world for Ayurveda based nutritious and pharmaceuticals goods, he said that we should tap, harness that potential which would generate much needed export revenue to the country. We need to take steps to get the maximum benefit, by delivering the goods, in quick time.

Minister Gamage expressed to the students present, what lead role the Ayurvedic Institute could play, in collaboration with other similar institutions and knowledge centres.

He said that his Ministry was willing to help the Institute to explore those areas very beneficial to our nation and the country at large.

Drawing the minds of the students participating at the Conference, Minister Gamage underscored the importance of realising the great blessings that nature has given to our country.

“We know that pharmacological and nutritious industry of the country occupy the biggest share in this basket and the forum gives me an excellent opportunity to open my thinking towards the plans of my ministry to rally you all, with the primary industries ministry to strengthen this industry for better health of our nation and the economy of our country.”

 Primary Industries Minister Daya Gamage being received by the Head of the Institute Dr. Hapuarachchi

“As such we have a common mission to harness this potential in most scientific way for the benefit of our nation. It is no secret that the Sri that Lankans have the knowledge potential or invention and innovations, throughout our long history. It is the driving force of the new economies of today,” the Minister said.

As you know Sri Lankans have the honour for the invention of reading glasses. The theories of water moving and invention of valve pit are with the Sri Lankan engineers.

We are the fore-runners in discovering eye medicine, treatments for snake bites, orthopaedic medicines and techniques which are the treasures of the country to open our gates to the new world, said the Minister. 

In his address Minister Gamage outlined the following points to stress that his Ministry was capable of helping those entering as entrepreneurs of their chosen fields: 

Staff and student body with Minister Daya Gamage

• My ministry is an eye opener to all these and we have to jointly work out an accelerated pathway to harness all these treasures with new vision and thinking.

The students of the Ayurvedic institutions have to take up leading roles at this juncture to take forward all these inculcating in to entrepreneurial culture and thinking, to get out from the subsistence culture to find a government job for a marginal salary.

• My ministry has already initiated the program to assist students entering the field of entrepreneurship and business incubation to start up their own business carriers through business incubation programs.
•  We have introduced a support system for the individual students to get patents and intellectual property rights for their research products, and go through business incubation process. 
• We have already conducted awareness programs for two leading Ayurvedic institutes, Gampaha and Rajagiriya to inculcate and indulge entrepreneurial culture, to your programs to avail the strength to withstand on your own for which introduces a supporting system.
•  We have set up a common forum for all the university students who like to be the entrepreneurs, to take up their research findings to develop marketable products by going through the business incubation process. We plan to establish business incubators and accelerators in all the institutes to promote this program in 2018.