School Children at the exhibition stall of naval crafts eagerly listening to the naval officer ‘s description of the vessel (Inset) Child learning to handle a rifle.
The Gamen Lovata Ruhunu Expo exhibition had been organized to make the rural people aware of the great opportunities they had to develop the export sector making use of the material available in the region. It was also to show the other investors how to exploit new locations to establish their industries. At the same time it also intended to train the mindset of the future generation to look to the future in a different way.

To realize the goals intended the authorities arranged seminars for those who were interested in exporting rural based products. They were mainly conducted by the Export Development Board and the team from EDB was committed to their task of educating the visitors and also directing them to visit other useful stalls.

Chairman EDB Anil Koswatte said that the exhibition was an investment to encourage the rural people to come into the export sector and making use of the rural produce and raw material for exports. Since the EDB provided 70 percent of the services for exporters, it was only 30 percent effort needed by an entrepreneur to get into export business.

The person who earned the most distinguished exporter of the Southern Province Award started his business with only Rs.7,000 in 1986 but was the owner of three companies exporting local goods and seven enterprises catering to the local market, he said.

"This businessman started exporting small quantities of cinnamon but today he exports to UK, USA, Mexico, Chile, Peru. Madagascar, Equador, Korea, Singapore, India and Pakistan. His companies directly employs about 300 people while another thousand are indirectly employed, Koswatte said.

When the children view the exhibition, especially the export products they too would gain ideas and would be able to grow up as people who could also follow the example set by the successful businessmen.

"Another exporter who had started his export business at a small scale with cinnamon as his product was now an exporter earning the highest amount of foreign exchange among the exporters of the Southern Province. Last year his earning from exports was six million rupees. He exports cloves, arecanut, pepper and goraka and citronella oil and was able to visit foreign countries and attend events to promote his products and bring the profit to the country, he said.

"A large capital was not needed to become an exporter as the EDB open avenues and provid the services to newcomers who could become successful exporters", he said. The exhibition sought to show the way to enterprising people to enter the export sector.

Minister of Ports, Aviation and Irrigation Chamal Rajapakse who was also at the exhibition said the Hambantota District in the past was known to be an agricultural district with paddy and chena cultivation as its main economic activity. In the past three years the district has started to develop diversified economic activities and with the international airport and harbour coming up exporters could come into the district and invest as new opportunities would be available here.

Minister of Export Promotion Prof G.L.Peiris said the people of the south were more intelligent and creative than the people who go to Oxford or Cambridge for higher studies and the effort to encourage local enterprise was the main objective of the exhibition Gamen Lovata Ruhunu Expo.

Several exporters of the Southern and Uva Provinces received awards for their performance at the exhibition grounds. The silent remote Siribopura area with the EXPO exhibition gave the area a carnival atmosphere and the crowds visited from morning till evening. The Gamen Lovata Ruhunu Expo viewers would benefit from the knowledge they gained at the exhibition and would think of a better future with the innovations they saw to change in their lifestyles in the future. What they could grow in their home soil could reach other destinations and could bring foreign exchange.

The next Gamen Lovata Expo Exhibition would be held in Polonnaruwa next year to promote the rural masses to produce more export items to earn more, EDB Chairman Anil Koswatta said.

We are very proud that the people of the area came to know school Tzu Chi with the first Gamen Lovata Ruhunu Expo exhibition held at our school, Siribopura, Hambantota. Little school children in groups visiting the exhibition in this rural school were heard commending the work with great happiness and pride.

Iresha, Indushika and Pavani girls studying in year 9 of the school were chatting all the way while going round the stalls. They said they were able to learn a lot of things. They also said they liked the exhibition stalls of the Army, Navy and the Air Force where there were arms, equipment and models of sea craft. The service personnel explained how the different weapons worked. Among the visitors were not only the children and the youth but also the senior citizens both male and female. They were all enjoying themselves and learning things that had come virtually to their village.

A large number of school children in white school uniforms were mingling with the public at the exhibition. The stalls had a variety of agricultural products and handicraft items of immense educational value. They included items made of rubber, coir fibre and leather products as well as gems and jewellery. Several stalls exhibited a wide variety of garments of different fashions. There were also forestry and wildlife conservation exhibits providing a wide range pf information. There were also a large collection of material covering foreign employment.

Since some of the stalls were offering goods at concessionary rates, brisk sales was also going on in some of the stalls. White school uniforms, mostly white shirts were moving fast.

A large number of visitors to the exhibition were attracted by the stalls of the armed forces and the youth were getting interested in joining the forces especially the Navy. School children enjoyed themselves most. They got into military tanks and attempted to learn how to handle them. looked through the binoculars the soldiers gave the children to toy with. The small children were given toys by the soldiers.