Need for top class printing school in Sri Lanka: PM
While there is so much growth and potential seen in the printing industry in Sri Lanka, the country needs a top class printing school, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasised.
Attending the Sri Lanka Print Awards 2018 organised by the Sri Lanka Association of Printers at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo last Sunday as the chief guest, the PM said that it’s very exciting times for the printing industry of Sri Lanka. “Sri Lanka’s print must go global. We need a top class printing school in Sri Lanka to educate the upcoming generation of the country. While the industry grows with new technological enhancements, we need to look at how we can create export oriented products.”
Coming from a family of more than 100 years of experience in the printing industry, Mr. Wickremesinghe stressed that Sri Lanka must become the ‘Print Hub’ of Asia while expressing the hope that many other sectors must also become the hub of Asia.
He added that China today is on top of the world in terms of printing. “Sri Lanka is a middle income country with a stabilised economy where we can pay the debts now. The tradable services are not within Sri Lanka. The apparel, tourism and printing industry must grow hand-in-hand to achieve great heights,” noted Mr. Wickremesinghe while stressing that the country needs to focus more on biodegradable printing material where the world is moving towards a greener environment.
Meanwhile Chairman of Graphic Systems (Pvt) Ltd, Keerthi Gunawardane who received the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the event told the Business Times, “Though Sri Lanka’s printing industry is slowly deviating towards digital printing practices the majority is still in the category of offset printing. 70 per cent of printers in Sri Lanka are offset printers while the remaining is only in the digital space.”
He also stated that there is very high scope for Sri Lanka’s printing industry to go global with all new technology adoption that is taking place.
At the awards night, Print Care PLC won the ‘Master Printer of the Year’ award, while Softwave Printing and Packaging, Aitken Spence Printing and Packaging, Gunaratne Offset (Pvt) Ltd and Commercial Printing and Packaging grabbed most of the awards under various categories.
The three-day print exhibition prior to the Sri Lanka Print Awards was held on March 16-18 at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre in Colombo. The theme of the exhibition was ‘Sri Lanka Print 2018 – Going Global’. Many students and potential printing enthusiasts visited the exhibition to explore the new trends in the industry.