Employment opportunities for 200:

BOI and Cocopel Lanka sign MoU

The Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka granted investment approval to Cocopel Lanka (Pvt) Ltd and Moorgate Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.

Chairman/Director General Dhammika Perera signed the agreements on behalf of the BOI and Director W. Hewawitharana signed the agreement on behalf of Cocopel Lanka.

The investment agreement signed with Cocopel Lanka is a project to manufacture value added coir pith and coconut husk products for the export market.

The joint venture project with Norway based Holsein Invest is an investment of US $ 500,000.

The company will set up two manufacturing plants equipped with machinery imported from Europe in Pallebadda and Padanangala. With the setting up of this venture, 200 new employment opportunities will be generated.

The value added coir pith developed will be used in seeding in plant nurseries. Cocopel is a disc of compacted mixture of coir fibre pith, also known as coco peat, a natural and renewable resource, produced from coconut husks. Cocopel is a natural, eco-friendly, organic, growing medium supplied in compressed form.

It is an ideal product for seed germination and multiplication plots in tissue culture. Coir fibre pith is produced as a byproduct when coconut husks are processed for the extraction of the fibres from the husks. Cocopel is free from weed seeds and diseases. The properties of coco peat make it resistant to bacterial and fungal growth.

Norwegian commercial and agricultural expertise together with indigenous know-how of the coir pith has laid the foundation for the establishment of this joint venture company to develop a high-tech agricultural product.

Hewawitharana said that there is a high demand for their product in China and will commence exports in July.

The company is established under BOI's "300 Enterprises Program" and this will be their third BOI venture.

The company is in the process of setting the infrastructure and has finished development of the product. Cocopel Lanka has imported seeds from China to research and develop the product, so that it best suits their requirements.