Ratnayake to contest for World Packaging presidency

by Elmo Leonard

Sri Lankan Dharmatilake Ratnayake will contest for the post of President of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) which falls vacant on October 12.

The WPO is the global apex body for packaging. Ratnayake (64), the Vice President of WPO, since 2002. The Asian Packaging Federation (APF) of which Ratnayake is President since 2001, at a board meeting in Dubai, in July, decided to nominate him.

The APF covers the largest populace in the world, being Australia, Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Russia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam and are backing the Asian.

China has invited him for the ground-breaking-ceremony for the proposed (Chinese) Asian Packaging Centre in Jiangsu province. The emerging Chinese economic powerhouse plans that their first comprehensive industrial packaging centre combines packaging, manufacture, science and education, research and development and trade and information services into a single entity.

China will invite multinationals to open packaging and other related industries in that complex, encouraging links with Chinese collaborators, Ratnayake said.

Ratnayake who held the post of Secretary-General, APF in 1989-90 is currently WPO's Chairman, World Student Star committee. Holding a Bachelor of Science degree, Ratnayake has done research and presented many technical papers at global packaging fora. Ratnayake's contender, Keith Pearson is the Chairman of WPO's training and educational committee.

While most of the WPO membership come from Europe and the Americas, if there is a contest, the self-effacing Ratnayake wants to step down, but the APF membership say that the Asian should face the election.