“As we launch the 15th exhibition in the Pro-food Pro Pack series we can be satisfied that this has become one of the largest food, beverages, packaging and agri-business fairs in South Asia” said Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen in Colombo on Friday.
Minister Bathiudeen was addressing the launch event of the 15th Pro-food Pro Pack exhibition series by his Ministry with Sri Lanka Food Processors Association (SLFPA) at BMICH, Colombo. This year’s event packs 280 local and foreign exhibitors displaying 300 stalls with more than 100 foreign delegates coming from India, China, Holland, and Poland, along with an industry delegation from Qatar.
There is a great number of micro and SME enterprises active in this industry and more than 40% of SMEs are in food processing sector. The ministry has allocated more than Rs 60 million for 2017 in a number of projects for this sector. Among the proposed projects are skills development for food and packaging industries, marketing promotion program for processed food industries, green value addition for existing food industries in Sri Lanka, and more importantly introduction of an accredited food laboratory by IDB next year at a cost of Rs 35 million.
Ministry will launch the IDB Lab in 2017 and the new lab can perform many well-known processed food tests such as Microbiology shelf life and “salmonella”.
These tests are also important to obtain SLS certifications for processed foods going to the stores.
This lab is expected to perform at least 500 processed food tests per month. What is more important is that the services of this lab are made available at very low costs.
With IDB the ministry is also currently conducting a pilot project to upgrade Sri Lankan SME Food Processors to enhance their food manufacturing technology and international standards and also to move them one step above form their current SME status. That is for example upgrading small enterprises to become medium size and medium enterprises to become large scales.”
A GIZ sponsored special attraction “Nothern Kitchen” is added to this year’s Pro Food Pro Pack to showcase 30 Northern SME food producers to visiting global audience.
