Sri Lanka Ports Authority’s marketing campaign worth Rs.100 million has been initiated with the aim of promoting the key ports in the country.
This initial investment is expected to be utilized within this year as the campaign has already began, Sri Lanka Ports Authority Chairman Dr. Priyath Bandu Wickrama told the Business Times. He was speaking on the sidelines of a media briefing held to announce Sri Lanka’s first opportunity to host the 12th Asia/Oceania Regional meeting and Port Forum conducted together with the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH) alongside the International Air Freight, Shipping and Logistics Expo in 2012 at the BMICH from March 8-10.
He noted that the SLPA marketing campaign is set to be carried out in the Far East countries like Japan, Korea, China and Malaysia; in the South Asian countries of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan and the Middle Eastern region.
Dr. Wickrama observed that the campaign will create awareness of the infrastructure and opportunities available for prospective investors.
In this respect, the government hopes to attract those involved in value addition, assembling, packaging and storing by marketing the destination’s ports as being in a region representing 25% of the world’s population.
Further, Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with India and Pakistan will be advertised in a bid to allow investors to utilize these for trade purposes.
As part of this awareness creation Colombo will play host to its first ever key shipping and logistics conference and exhibition in the country next year.
Dr. Wickrama said during the media briefing that this forum will showcase Sri Lanka’s potential to the world with the country’s infrastructure facilities positioned as “well above other regional developers” with the SLPA incurring a cost of Rs.10 million for the conduct of the forum in Colombo with expectations for about 500 participants.
Also in the pipeline is the 13th International Network of Affiliated Ports (INAP) 2011 Conference scheduled to be held in Colombo from August 24 – 25 this year.
International container volumes dropped by 10% globally in 2009 due to the depression but the industry bounced back in 2010 with even the Port of Colombo setting a new record by handling 4 million TEUs of containers.
This was a 20% increase from the previous year and a 10.7% increase compared to the previous total figure of the highest ever performance recorded in 2008 at 3.68 million TEUs.
IAPH Secretary General Susme Naruse said that Sri Lanka’s ports and those in the region might be facing the problems of environmental issues and ensuring safety and security at the ports.
He noted that Sri Lanka is currently successfully developing the infrastructure and capacity and will be able to meet the demand in the near future.
IAPH comprises of 150 associate members with 200 ports in 90 countries that contribute to 80% of the world container traffic, he said.
Intense marketing campaign for Logistics Expo 2012
Sri Lanka international Air Freight, Shipping and Logistics Expo 2012 is tipped to become the biggest meeting place for the industry with an extensive marketing campaign in the Bangladesh, China, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines and Pakistan to promote the exhibition scheduled to take place next year. Direct Mails, advertisements in leading newspapers and trade publications of each countries, fax and email campaigns, Internet marketing, conferences before the event and promotions at related industry events are being planned. |
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