Expolanka launches 'Cottage Craft' to revive Handicraft Industry:

Eco-friendly rural craftsmen to benefit

Expolanka launched Cottage Craft in March 2011 with an aim to develop Sri Lanka's local cottage handicraft industry, by building a partnership with the many smalltime craftsmen working from different parts of rural Sri Lanka. This will work to bring such culturally iconic items prized by visitors and locals alike such as mats, pottery, cane works and jewellery to the urban consumer. The partnership will allow local craftsmen to benefit directly from the sale of their goods, which are produced by their masterful craftsmanship that has passed down from generation to generation for millennia.

In ancient times however craftsmen of Sri Lanka enjoyed the king's patronage to develop and sustain their industry, which they have had to forego since the opening up of the economy. The handicraft industry in Sri Lanka has indeed been struggling to survive in the recent past. For this reason, local craftsmen welcome this initiative by Expolanka which helps them to not only sustain their livelihoods but ensure the survival of their niche industry.

The consumer can also take pleasure in taking part in this process by knowing that their purchases directly reward the local handicraft industry and thus help to keep an integral part of Sri Lankan culture alive, as the history of handicrafts in Sri Lanka is as long as the history of Sri Lanka itself.

Not only is Cottage Craft driven by local talent and locally produced inputs, this sustainable business initiative uses all eco-friendly recycled material for its packaging, such as tea-stained and saffron paper produced by Expolanka's own Neptune Papers, a market leader in recycling in Sri Lanka. Cottage Craft, with its sustainable and inclusive approach to business operations and design, offers handicrafts for the nation - produced by the people who have always made them, packaged in guilt-free eco-friendly material.

Thus, Expolanka's dynamism is reflected not only in its steady expansion and growing international presence, but also in its understanding that true corporate accountability goes beyond isolated CSR activities and is measured by the social and environmental sustainability of a corporation's operations.

Cottage Craft handicrafts is an example of such an honest understanding of corporate accountability, as the business's growth is directly tied to the development of local industries (and therefore raising the standard of living of the local population) and its operations are aimed at safeguarding the environment through the use of all-natural products and recycled materials.

Corporate sustainability comes from within, and Expolanka has a Green Team, comprising of individuals from different business units of the organization, with an aim to develop, promote, and build awareness of environmentally friendly business operations and initiatives, which will work to improve sustainability and minimize environmental damage. In addition to campaigns led by the Green Team such as participating in Earth Hour and the World Environmental Day Awareness Program, there are regular CSR projects carried out by Expolanka such as organization-wide paper recycling campaigns and the Charity Tea Auction for National Cancer Institute of Maharagama held earlier this year in collaboration with the Colours of Courage trust which raised Rs 6 million.

It seems "stakeholder responsibility" will always remain a core value at Expolanka as it continues to extend its responsibility towards the community and environment, as with the Cottage Craft handicrafts initiative which safeguards the sustainability of the local handicraft industry, community, and environment.

With tourist arrivals also steadily pouring into the country, Cottage Craft handicrafts will also contribute to the growth of the tourist industry as tourists always seek to take back with them a part of Sri Lanka's culture in the form of a souvenir at the end of their visit. In this way, Cottage Craft handicrafts will help to carry more of Sri Lanka's handicrafts, a source of national pride, across borders to be showcased in many homes in many different lands. Expolanka was a pioneer in International Trade in Sri Lanka and is now a formidable diversified group with core strengths also in Transportation and Manufacturing, which includes the production of herbal pharmaceuticals as well as paper recycling through Neptune Papers.

Neptune Papers currently works with a wide range of financial institutions and banks, government bodies, diplomatic bodies, and hospitals. Its services include a completely free paper shredding service for confidential papers, thus reducing pollution by eliminating the need for burning. Neptune Papers shreds over 2.5 million kg of confidential documents every year. By developing such business strengths.

Expolanka shows that they have identified the global trend of and demand for "going green", and thereby the needs of its stakeholders such as consumers, the community, and the environment, and that it has realized a truth that many corporate entities find difficult to swallow - that life is sustainable for only so long as the practices of individuals and organizations of the world are environmentally sustainable.