LAUGFS mulling to go into healthcare
LAUGFS Holdings is considering getting into the healthcare business with international collaboration, officials said.
“We want to diversity into the healthcare sector with an international partner,” W.H. K. Wegapitiya, Chairman LAUGFS Holdings told the Business Times. He said this process is still at the initial stages.
“We are looking at all aspects of healthcare including a hospital, pharmaceutical manufacturing, equipment manufacturing, etc.,” he said. He added that now less than 10 per cent of the total requirement is locally produced. “So there’s a huge potential. We are looking at Kurunegala to set up a hospital,” he said.
“We’re also looking at value addition to local mineral resources. In this regard we have already started a joint venture with the Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology to add value to Ilmenite and produce nano titanium dioxide, which is a raw material for products such as paints,” Mr. Wegapitiya said.
Most Ilmenite is mined for titanium dioxide production. Finely ground titanium dioxide is a bright white powder widely used as a base pigment in paint, paper and plastics.
He added that the company also will shift from orthodox energy sources and get into renewable energy sources. “We want to get into transport fuels. Now we use Hydrocarbon such as petrol and diesel and we are dependant on them. One third of our foreign exchange goes to importing oil. LAUGFS might find a solution through renewable energy for this. It’ll be something which no one has introduced before,” he added.
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