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Hands Lanka: a tremendous success

17
Oct '08

'Hands Lanka” the first every international Handicrafts Exhibition went on for four days at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre (SLECC) and it was a tremendous success.

“Hands Lanka” is a joint initiative by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sir Lanka (FCCISL), Handwerkskammer Koblenz of Germany and the National Chamber of Handicrafts in Sri Lanka (NCHSL) together with the Ministry of Rural Industries and Self Employment Promotion.

At the opening ceremony of Hands Lanka – handicraft exhibition, S B Nawinna, Minister of Rural Industries and Self Employment Promotion was the Chief Guest and said that he appreciated the gigantic efforts made by the FCCISL to support the small and medium scale handicraft manufacturers in this country.

He said that the Exhibition will be an opening for the SME handicraft manufacturers to gather expertise and new marketing avenues nationally and internationally.

Kosala Wickramanayake, President, FCCISL said that one of their important divisions is the Small and Medium Enterprise Developers (SMED) which plays an important role in the SME promotion and development and said that during the last three years SMED was responsible for organizing the SME Machinery Exhibition, which proved to be an unqualified success and which enabled the projection of the capacity of the local industry.

Mr Wickramanayake said that the main purpose of Hands Lanka 2008 is to promote Lankan handicrafts and giftware to the international market and also to find buyers from overseas countries. He said that such a process will pave the way to Sri Lankan artisans to secure export markets particularly the niche markets for value added handicrafts and giftware products that utilize the local available raw materials.

Hands Lanka 2008 Exhibition achieved it purpose as the venue became an open forum for the local craftsmen to meet their expert counterparts spread all over the country and also made the first step to bring all the handicraftsmen spread all the country together so that they could obtain assistance to continue their industry without any hindrance.

The exhibition also provided an opportunity to sell products/machinery/accept firm orders for supply; select and appoint local agents/distributors, negotiate and enter into joint ventures, share new technology for improvement of quality.

Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sir Lanka