Cottage industry to be provided with market access - Dy Minister

Disna Mudalige

Capturing the local market with indigenous products is the next aim of the cottage industries promotion segment of the Divineguma National Programme, Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Deputy Minister Weerakumara Dissanayake said.

Addressing a press conference at the Information Department yesterday, the Deputy Minister said under the Divineguma programme, a large number of cottage industries, small and medium enterprises have been raised, encouraged and improved and the next step is to gradually infiltrate these local and innovative products into the local market.

He said a special programme is to be launched with the support of all stakeholders to enable the village level producers to gain access to the local market.

Dissanayake said traditional products of the country have got distanced from the people to a greater extent.

The Deputy Minister said the establishment of the Divineguma Department under the newly passed Divineguma Act has created a special interest and awakening among village level people towards the Divineguma programme. He said newly recruited graduates have been appointed to each Divisional Secretariat Division to coordinate the work of the Cottage Industries Promotion Programme.

Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Secretary V Sivagnanasothy said the aim of the government is to establish 60,000 sustainable cottage industries by 2016. He said as a strategy to cater to this goal, national and district level exhibitions which provide knowledge on technology, markets, financial services and training opportunities etc have been organised adding that 24 exhibitions were completed by the end of 2012.

Industrial Development Board (IDB) chairman Udaya Sri Kariyawasam said the International Labour Organisation provided financial aid to develop cottage industries in Batticaloa and Vavuniya.

Kariyawasam said 1,227 cottage industries have been newly commenced under the guidance of the IDB. He requested entrepreneurs operating small and medium scale enterprises to contact them, adding that guidance and help for them to advance to the next step would be provided. Kariyawasam said the Economic Development Ministry is keen to promote the local production of exercise books pointing out that a larger proportion of the market demand is being catered through importation.