Prima Ceylon celebrates 40 years in Sri Lanka

From left: Prima Baking Training Centre Principal Ranjan Amarasinghe, Prima Group Sri Lanka Assistant Group General Manager Dharshana de Silva Prima Group Sri Lanka Director/Group Treasurer Sunil Leeniyagoda, Prima Ceylon (Pvt.) Ltd General Manager Ong Jhon Seon, Prima Group Sri Lanka Group General Manager Tan Beng Chuan, Prima Ceylon (Pvt.) Ltd Sales and Marketing Head Ravindra de Coonghe, Prima Ceylon (Pvt.) Ltd Factory Manager Cheng Yueh-Chin and Prima Ceylon (Pvt.) Ltd District Manager Steven Kok

Prima Ceylon, the flagship company of the Prima Group Sri Lanka, celebrated four decades of successful partnerships and growing together with the nation, at an event recently in Trincomalee, where its state-of-theart flour milling complex and one of the largest flour mills in the world under one roof, is located.

Being Sri Lanka’s first recorded Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 1977, Prima Ceylon’s core business is wheat flour milling and distribution.

For four decades, Prima has played a dynamic and vital role to help bolster Sri Lanka’s food security, foreign reserves, employment opportunities, the local bakery industry and related industries, staying true to its corporate purpose ‘we provide solutions to help you grow’. To mark its 40th year, Prima Ceylon will launch a programme to recognise and celebrate innovative and successful Sri Lankans from the food industry across the country, with the aim of inspiring future entrepreneurs and businesses to continue to raise the standards of the country’s bakery and wheat flour-based industrial sectors. The programme titled: ‘Your Progress - Our Pride’, will feature local entrepreneurs who have built thriving businesses over the past 40 years, creating job opportunities, contributing to the local economy, supporting local communities and innovating the industry.

The programme will share the remarkable stories of these unsung heroes of the country, detailing their lives, trials, lessons and success. This fol lows an e a r l i e r announcement by Prima to establish a SGD 2 million scholarship with the Singapore Management University for Sri Lankan undergraduates, as part of its 40th year partnership with the island by facilitating higher education of Sri Lankan students studying in Singapore. This fund was further supported b y a n o t h e r S G D 1 m i l l i o n b y t h e Singapore Government, t o t a l l i n g t h e v a l u e of the scholarship to SGD 3 million. Speaking on Prima Ceylon’s 40th year in Sri Lanka, Prima Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Primus Cheng said: “Our current investment in Sri Lanka amounts to US$240 million.

It is an investment we are proud of, and we will continue to explore new opportunities to add value to the country and our business partners. This year marks 40 years of Singaporean - Sri Lankan cooperation, 40 years of foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka and 40 years of Prima progressing together with the country’s people.” Commenting on the landmark milestone, Prima Group Group General Manager Tan Beng Chuan said: “We have strived at all times to serve Sri Lanka as beyond a flour producer. We work very closely with remarkable Sri Lankans in the baking and related industries, helping enhance their businesses through skills, equipment and infrastructure development. Over our 40 year journey here, we have been privileged to witness the determination, strength and resilience of Sri Lankans.

We are confident that our relationship with this great nation will only get stronger in the years to come as we continue to serve our purpose of delivering the highest quality products whilst contributing to the growth of Sri Lanka’s socioeconomic status.” As part of Prima’s long-term commitment, the Prima Bakery Training Centre (PBTC) was established in Colombo in 2004, to provide practical training to practitioners to promote modern baking techniques.

The training centre is accredited by the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission of Sri Lanka. Since its inception, PBTC has trained over 5,000 graduates and skilled bakers/chefs in the country, with many students winning local and international culinary accolades and awards over the years.