National program needed to develop export sector - PM

A national program is required to develop the country's export and domestic production sector, Prime Minister D M Jayaratne said.

He said intellectuals in the business field should help in this regard.

Prime Minister Jayaratne also affirmed that Government is committed to provide infrastructure requirements and financial assistance in this regard.

He made these comments at the "International Processed Food, Packaging and Agricultural Exhibition in Sri Lanka organised by the National Agribusiness Association for the fifth consecutive year at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall yesterday morning.

The exhibition will be held until tomorrow. Opening the event, the Prime Minister said that Sri Lanka is losing valuable foreign exchange due to the lag in domestic production of food products. He pointed out that time has come to put an end to this situation and immediate measures should be taken to develop the domestically produced food items.

These measures will improve the country's agricultural sector and expand employment opportunities, he said.

Prime Minister Jayaratne said although 233 million litres of milk were domestically produced in 2009, 620,350 metric tons of milk powder was imported which cost the country nearly Rs 19 billion.

The Mahinda Chintana program is continuously supporting the development of local industries therefore the task of improving the production sector is made easier under President Mahinda Rajapaksa's leadership, he said.