The packaging industry is being driven towards more technology infusion and has the capacity to become a vibrant industry by supporting back-end processes and providing a marketable product.
“We are operating in the midst of challenging economic conditions. The packaging industry needs technological upgrades. The packaging manufacturers have invested heavily to become future ready. The theme of Lankapack 2019 ‘sustainable packaging for a circular economy’ reiterates the importance of the industry for economic development which has a positive impact,” President Sri Lanka Institute of Packaging (SLIP), Anuradha Jayasinghe said at the launch of the 38th edition of the Lankapak exhibition series at the BMICH last week.
“There need to be a proper mechanism to dispose garbage. Though we consider Singapore as a clean country they produce more garbage than Sri Lanka. It has a land area of 1 percent of Sri Lanka and a population of five million people. Most of the developed countries produce more garbage than Sri Lanka and it is the responsible disposal that matters,” a senior member of the Sri Lanka Institute of Packaging said.
Singapore and Sri Lanka produce a similar amount of garbage which is 2.8 million tons.
“The Asia-Pacific has become the leading market in the global retail e-commerce packaging. This opens new opportunities for Sri Lanka’s packaging sector - especially our packaging industries which plan to enter international markets. I call upon our industry to use these openings and capitalise on them,” Minister of Industry, Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons, Cooperative Development, Skills Development and Vocational Training, Rishad Bathiudeen said.
“The Sri Lanka Institute of Packaging has introduced service programs for SMEs at regional level for the first time. This is to strengthen SME value chains. As a result our SMEs have entered the packaging sector. Forty SME industries in the North and East have already been trained under the Packaging Technology Improvement Program in the first stage,” he said.
The exhibition focuses on the five Ps - Packaging, Processing, Printing, Paper and Plastic. This year’s expo was attended by exhibitors from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and India. There are 27 Indian stalls with 40 Indian companies in these sectors was the key highlight of this event.
A critical group of Sri Lankan industry sub-sectors is set to reap bigger gains riding on the surges in e-commerce as well as Indian and Asia-Pacific markets. For the first time, Sri Lanka SMEs are receiving the Government’s direct support for their packaging efforts.
Stressing the resilience of Sri Lankan economy, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu said, “In recent exhibitions here, Indian companies far outnumbered companies from other countries due to their large scale. We believe that together we can achieve more. Some believe inter-dependency is a sign of weakness - but to me it is undoubtedly a sign of strength. Problems in today’s world are too complex to be resolved by a single country alone. India’s packaging industry is expected to touch US $ 73 billion by 2020. This creates lots of opportunities for industries of both countries,” he said.