Radical new boat ‘will significantly boost Sri Lanka’s tuna exports’

Sunday Times - 08/09/2013

By Nick Hart

Pic shows a ‘test-bed’ vessel on which the tuna boat is based under construction at the Viksund yard

Negombo – A radical new, locally built high-speed catamaran fishing boat is poised to significantly boost the number of top-price tuna available for export from Sri Lanka to markets in Japan, China and the Middle East.

It will also help ensure tuna sustainability in Sri Lankan waters by reducing by up 70 per cent the number of fish needed to be caught in order to ensure maximum profitability.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development has expressed keen interest in the new vessel, which will help put the country at the forefront of next-generation fishing-boat development.

It is hoped that a prototype, currently on the drawing-board at the Viksund boatyard on the Negombo lagoon, will be ready for sea trials later this year.

The new boat combines a hull design based on G3 offshore racing powerboats with high-tech refrigerated fish holds that eliminate spoilage and get fresh tuna back to port at speeds of up to 40 knots.

The ministry has said it will allow the new venture to be based at the recently completed state-of-the-art fishing harbour between Negombo lagoon and Colombo, where land will be made available for a factory to build the new boat.

It has also brokered agreement from the Sri Lanka Navy for Viksund, a Norway headquartered company, to use powerful 200-plus horsepower outboard engines, which are currently banned for use on civilian vessels.

Deputy Fisheries Minister Sarath Kumara Gunaratne has pledged to attend the launch of the prototype, which he hopes will spearhead the kind of entrepreneurial innovation that is essential to the long-term survival of Sri Lanka’s fishing industry.He says: “Fish and seafood represent a significant proportion of our GDP and export markets, and we welcome any development that will help our fishing industry stay ahead of the game.” At present, as much as 80 per cent of tuna landed in Sri Lanka is ‘spoiled’ because current vessels lack adequate refrigeration and handling technology to maintain the fish in Grade 1 condition for the long periods the boats are forced to remain at sea.

Grade 1 sushi bluefin tuna currently fetches up to US$1,000 per kilo wholesale in Tokyo. Prices for yellowfin tuna, which is more commonly found in Sri Lankan waters, range from $500 to $700.

Prices are dramatically lower for Grades 2 and 3 tuna, which are considered spoiled and thus not fit for sushi – and with the latter often contemptuously dismissed as ‘pet-food’ by tuna marketers.

Boatyard owner Yostein Viksund says he is looking forward to helping Sri Lanka develop its fishing fleet to meet the challenges it must overcome if it is to thrive over the next three to five years.

He says: “Stocks of tuna and other staple species are being depleted at alarming rates across the Indian Ocean. Our new boat will mean higher profits from fewer fish, which will greatly benefit tuna-stock sustainability as well as the Sri Lankan economy.”

Remenzie Fernando, who has extensive experience providing top-quality sushi tuna to Japanese markets and is now a livestock and fisheries consultant, is optimistic that with the right planning and logistical support the new boat will more than prove its worth in its first season of operation.

He says: “We have a state-of-the-art fishing port on one side of Negombo lagoon and an international airport with daily direct flights to Tokyo and the Middle East on the other. All we need are the right fish in the right condition at the right time, and that’s what this new boat will give us. It will be a classic win-win situation all round.”

(Nick Hart is a British travel and business writer based

in Negombo)

Dutch biz in town

Asian Tribune - 06/09/2013

Buddhi Athauda (Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Netherlands-far right) and Dr Yousuf Maraikkar (Executive Director-EDB) engage the visiting members of the Dutch biz delegation at Hotel Mt Lavinia on 04 September.

Dutch biz are bullish on Sri Lanka’s emergent prospects. “Sri Lanka’s historic links with the Netherlands have entered a new era. This strong business and investment delegation is the latest sign” said an upbeat Buddhi Athauda (Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Netherlands) on 04 September in Mt. Lavinia.

Ambassador Athauda was addressing the inaugural event of the visiting Netherlands business and trade delegation to Sri Lanka on 04 September held at Mt Lavinia Hotel, Mt Lavinia. The delegation, which is on a week-long tour in Sri Lanka, and which arrived on same day (04 September) in Colombo, consisted of reps from such leading Dutch firms as JIMPP Media, Abos, Defteq International BV, Beursgenoten, Fleurons & Prins, Velema Holdings, and Zonel Energy Systems.

EDB facilitated presentations from various Lankan private sector firms-including Ceylon Tea, and Tourism- were made to the visiting delegation on 04 September at the Mt. Lavinia Hotel, followed by a successful B2B session between Dutch and Lankan biz that continued throughout the afternoon. Jimpp Media BV, a business programme producer is also part of the delegation. Ron Abdoelhafiezkhan, a well-known Dutch talk show host and a TV producer as well as JIMPP’s leading producer Ms Juliette Iperen with her TV crew are also in the delegation. The JIMPP TV crew is scheduled to start shooting for two half hour segments on Sri Lanka’s new developments, to be televised in Netherlands.

According to the BoI, currently 30 Netherland investment projects are in operation in Sri Lanka to a total investment value of $ 437 Mn. These projects have been on-going from way back in 1978 (to to-date). Among the well-known Dutch brands operating in Sri Lanka are Holcim (cement) and Northwest Fisheries.
According to the Department of Commerce of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka’s total trade with the Netherlands has fluctuated during the last 14 years but balance of trade has continuously in favour of Sri Lanka recording the highest value of US $ 303.6 million in 2010. In 2012, the total bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $ 237.5 Mn. Tobacco, tea, fish products, solid rubber tyres, coconut products were Sri Lanka’s leading exports to Netherlands which totalled $ 158.6 Mn in 2012 while the country imported chocolates, orthopaedic appliances, ethyl alcohol, medicaments, tubes, pipes and hoses, and fittings from Netherlands last year.

“Netherlans famous logistics, agro sector and financials offer strong promise for Sri Lankan businesses in such sectors, looking to partner with Dutch biz” said (HE) Athauda. “Sri Lanka can focus on such well known sectors to synergise with Netherlands biz” he added.

“Sri Lanka is very interesting for us” said Alexander OP van den Bos, Director of Abos Ultimate Vending, the high-end coffee brand in the Netherlands. “Your economy is growing very fast and offers good prospects to the global investors like us. We are looking for joint ventures with matching partner firms from Sri Lanka” Bos added. Bos’ Faityrade and ATZ certified ‘Café Primero’ brand of high end coffee and coffee processing machineries trade grossed $ 53 Mn turnover in 2012.


“Diplomatic relations between Netherlands and Sri Lanka go back to more than 60 years” said Dr Yousuf Maraikkar (Executive Director-EDB), addressing the event, and added: “The Dutch influence still lingers in many areas our national life. Their great architecture vividly recalls us their presence in Sri Lanka. In 2012, the total bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $ 237.5 Mn. Sri Lanka is hosting the CHOGM and the Commonwealth Business Forum in November and parallel to this is the large scale exhibition by the EDB and I invite you to actively take part in it.”

Strengthening ties at EDB

Daily Mirror - 02/09/2013

The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) celebrated its 34th anniversary recently. As a part of its anniversary celebrations, the formation of an Ex-EDB Employees society titled ‘Ex-EDB Employees Sansadaya’ was proposed, to strengthen the ties between the present and past employees of the EDB. The inaugural meeting and the get-together of the ‘Sansadaya’ was held on 23 August at the Cey-Nor Seafood Restaurant, Colombo, with the participation of present and past employees of EDB

Israeli Trade delegation upbeat on investment prospects in Sri Lanka

Asian Tribune - 31/08/2013

A high end Israeli Trade delegation consisting of approx. 25 delegates from diverse sectors such as agriculture, dairy, the high tech industry, defence, insurance and water management sectors is currently visiting Sri Lanka in order to explore potential scope for collaboration between the two countries. The trade delegation which arrived on 26th August is led by Ambassador Sarath Wijesinghe, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Israel.

The objective of organizing the visit by the Sri Lanka Embassy in Israel with the assistance of the Export Development Board, the Chambers of Commerce and the Israel –Asia Chamber of Commerce in Israel was to highlight Sri Lanka’s comparative advantages as well as the variety of investment incentives available in the priority sectors of the Sri Lankan economy. This visit is also timely since there has been considerable growth in bilateral economic relations between Sri Lanka and Israel with trade doubling to US $ 158.35 million last year.

H.E. the Ambassador Sarath Wijesinghe addressing the distinguished gathering at the inauguration of the event at the Grand Oriental Hotel stated that Sri Lanka is a stepping stone to the sub-Continent for Israeli investors and invited the Israeli entrepreneurs to make use of the emerging status of Sri Lanka as a hub in the region. Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Governor of the Central Bank who was the Keynote Speaker at the inauguration commented on the strength of Sri Lanka’s macro fundamentals and stated that the time is right to invest in Sri Lanka. Later in the day many leading Sri Lankan businessmen availed themselves of the business networking facilities with the Israeli trade delegates which were offered to them after the inaugural event concluded.

The delegation is expected to call on Minister of Irrigation & Water Resources Management Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Agriculture Hon. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Minister of Economic Development Hon. Basil Rajapaksa and Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Secretary of the Ministry of Defence & Urban Development will visit the Board of Investment and other Government Institutions later on in their visit.

Negotiations on bilateral cooperation of Belarus and Sri Lanka held at business forum

The delegation of Sri Lanka is interested in export of certain Belarusian goods such as sugar, tires and oil products. The heads of the states agreed on setting up joint ventures.
Joel Selvanayagam, the chair of the group of companies (Sri Lanka): "We have enormous potential and technologies. By uniting them we can advance our economies".

The visiting card of Sri Lanka is tea and it is going to set up logistics centers on the territory of the Customs Union. Numerous agreements were signed during the business forum including the Memorandum on cooperation between the National Center of Marketing and the Council of Export Development of Sri Lanka.

Bilateral cooperation of Belarus and Sri Lanka discussed during governmental meeting

The President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich confirmed the mutual interest in such aspects as mechanical engineering, high technology, education, construction and tourism.

And right after the meeting in the Government House, the officials joined the business circles of the two countries. Multiple agreements, among which is the cooperation agreement between the National Center for Marketing and Price Conjuncture of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka, were signed within the framework of the business forum.

Facets 2013, Sri Lanka’s Premier International Gem & Jewelry Show begins on August 29, 2013

International Gem and Jewelry News

In accordance with the popular slogan “Come September Come Facets” the 23rd version of Sri Lanka’s premier International Gem & Jewelry Show, Facets 2013, eagerly awaited by all stakeholders in the international gem and jewelry trade and industry, is due to be held from August 29th to September 1st, 2013, at the usual venue, the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition and Convention Centre, part of the complex of buildings associated with the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), situated along Bullers Road, Colombo. The show is organized by the Sri Lanka Gem & Jewelry Association (SLGJA) and co-sponsored by the National Gem & Jewelry Authority (NGJA) of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (SLEDB).

The show will be held in the two large octagonal-shaped convention halls of the exhibition center, the main hall being reserved for the display of precious and semi-precious gems and the second hall allocated to jewelry, lapidary and other machinery used in the gem and jewelry industry. Around 200 exhibitors both local and foreign are due to be accomodated in both halls. The ceremonial opening of the show will be held at 9.00 a.m. on August 29, 2013 and the show will be open to visitors from 9.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. on August 29, and on the remaining three days August 30 to September 1, from 10.00 am to 6.00 p.m 

Facets 2013 promises to be bigger and better than ever before, with hundreds of local and foreign exhibitors getting ready to showcase their gem and jewelry products and a large number foreign trade delegations due to visit the exhibition. A strong showing by the emerging markets of China, Russia and India is expected apart from the traditional markets of the United States and Europe. Besides this, arrangements have been made for the participation of more than 50 small and medium scale enterprises (SME). According to Juzar Adamaly, Chairman Facets 2013, the SME sector plays a vital role within the entire gem and jewelry industry and is a major component of the industry that hopes to achieve the ambitious target of US$ 1 billion export revenue by the year 2016. 

Events organized in parallel to the exhibition include seminars and discussions conducted by international and local experts in the gem and jewelry industry; daily jewelry fashion shows, combining trendsetting fashion with fine jewelry, adding glamour and excitement to the show and a jewelry design competition, being organized for the third successive year, with the design theme “the story of the wind” and the overall winner being offered an all-expense paid trip to attend the 53rd Bangkok Gem & Jewelry Show in Thailand. Among the facilities that will be provided for exhibitors at the show, are shuttle services from most of the leading hotels; on-site custom formalities; gem testing facilities provided by the National Gem & Jewelry Authority; clearing and forwarding facilities for exports; travel desks for arranging tours for visitors if requested; restaurant facilities at the exhbition site and an on-site Facets Secretariat co-ordinating all activities throughout the duration of the show.