Sri Lanka must benefit from West’s increasing affinity towards Ayurveda - Export Development Minister

“At a time when there was an increasing awareness in the West of the efficacy of the Ayurvedic treatment system, Sri Lanka should make every efforts to benefit from such trends,” said Minister of Export Development and International Trade Prof. G. L. Peiris at a recent workshop held at the Export Development Board (EDB) office at Kurunegala, under the Value Chain Development (Agayadama) Programme, meant to highlight and discuss problems and impediments faced by those involved in the Ayurveda and herbal products sector.

The Minister said that the quality and standard of an export product should remain high for it to face competition successfully in the international market. And for all parties involved in the process to receive the maximum benefit, a close relationship should develop between the producer and the exporter. The Minister said that now the EDB had stepped forward to ensure that the highest profit was received by these two parties without the intervention of intermediaries.

Prof. Peiris pointed out that there was a great demand throughout the world for herbal plants and associated value-added products and as such, Sri Lanka should accord prominence to the development of such spheres.

An increasing number of people in the West and Japan were inclining towards the use of alternative and natural medicinal drugs and as a result, a tremendous opportunity was opening up for countries like Sri Lanka who were able to supply the world market with such products.

He said that a quantum leap could be made in this sector through expansion of the export base, value-addition and promotion in the export market.

Presently a coordinated programme in this respect was being implemented and Wayamba has been selected as a suitable area for cultivation of herbs and other plants due to its geographical location, climatic conditions, environment and the high concentration of experienced farmers.

He also admitted that for such projects to succeed, the Government too should get involved and in that respect it had done so through the Export Development Village concept.

Prof. Peiris said that at a time when the economic powers in the world such as the US and UK were undergoing an economic meltdown due to the near collapse of their banking systems, Sri Lanka could be somewhat happy to have avoided such a crises. But he said that though we had been able to avoid the full impact of the present international financial crisis, it would inevitably but gradually seep in as Sri Lanka had close trade links with these affected countries.

Referring to the present global financial crisis, he said the US Government alone was pumping a sum of US$ 700 billion into their banking system to salvage their banks while British Prime Minister Gorden Brown too was allocating a massive sum for that purpose.

Prof. Peiris said that though many had come across cases of personal bankruptcies, very rarely one would hear about a country going bankrupt. But a few weeks back Iceland was declared a bankrupt state.

But so far, Sri Lanka had been mercifully spared the repercussions of this crisis. He pointed out that Sri Lanka achieved a growth rate of 6.8% during the last two years which was mainly due to the growth of exports at a rate of 15%. In certain spheres of exports, the growth rate had been a mind-boggling 80%, Prof. Peiris said. As the export sector increasingly appeared to be the engine of growth for the whole economy, it’s everybody’s responsibility to nurture it towards more growth, the Minister said.