SL to set up Export Agro Value Chain Development Industrial Zone

The Cabinet nod has been received to setup the country’s first dedicated Export Agro Value Chain Development Industrial Zone in a 64-acre land in Elpitiya. 

The proposed zone is to be established in a 64-acre land owned by the Land Reforms Commission in the Mahipenna area in Elpitiya. 

The Cabinet of Ministers on Monday approved the proposal submitted by Minister of Plantation, Ramesh Pathirana to allocate land plots to 14 investors initially in the first phase of the project, to appoint a committee headed by the Secretary of the relevant State Ministry, and to select agro entrepreneurs under the second phase.

The 14 investors have been identified through business feasibility assessments conducted under the on-going Agriculture Sector Innovation Project, according to the Government Information Department. 

Minister Pathirana pointed out that the government has identified the increasing value added products in export crops leads to market opportunities and access to high quality markets, which in turn enable the country to increase export earnings. 

He noted the dedicated zone would be open for all kinds of value-additions of various plantation crops ranging from tea to cinnamon.