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National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) recently sent a 26-member delegation consisting of tea planters and other professionals to China for a training programme of green tea production.
The first group have completed the training programme and some of them have already established green tea manufacturing facilities in their factories.
There is a high demand for training programmes and the chamber has sent a second batch consisting of 25 members for a 5 day training programme.
According to a MOU signed between the NCCSL and the China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Fujian Sub Council, the CCPIT will offer the training programme to chamber representatives at concessionary rates.
The NCCSL is also looking at creating similar synergies and opportunities for the growth of porcelain and printing industries.
According to the NCCSL the traders should focus on exploiting bilateral trade agreements Sri Lanka has entered into with other countries.
Sri Lanka stood as the largest tea exporter in 2006 with 3.1 million tones of tea exported according to a FOA report.
Sri Lanka’s tea industry is facing a decline in the percentage of growth compared to past export performances.
Kenya is next to Sri Lanka, showing a positive improvement is fast capturing the market-share of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s tea export earnings showed an improvement recording US$ 1,271 million in 2008 from US$ 1,025 million in 2007.
China, being the largest green tea exporter to the world has 782,000 tones of tea exported.
According to the NCCSL, there is high potential for green tea exports to grow by 4.7 percent with demand expected to grow each year.
