Netherlands Ambassador to Sri Lanka Bonnie Horbach, said that there is a high demand for Sri Lanka’s agricultural products in the international market, and the government and businessmen of Sri Lanka should be interested in capturing those markets. She also said that the Netherlands can provide the necessary support for that.
A discussion was held on Tuesday (26) afternoon at the Ministry of Agriculture, between Netherlands Ambassador in SL Bonnie Horbach, the Agricultural advisor Michial Van Erkel and Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industry Mahinda Amaraweera about the agricultural aspects of the Netherlands Embassy in view of the aim of developing technical relations between the Netherlands and Sri Lanka related to agriculture and plantation industry.
In particular, the new agricultural technology and training currently used by the Netherlands were discussed. Discussions were held regarding the trainers’ training courses currently being run by the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Peradeniya with the support of the Dutch government. He also discussed taking steps to further expand the training courses and increase the number of students who are given training.
The Ambassador also said that most of the ornamental flowers imported to the Netherlands are from Kenya and Sri Lanka can provide an opportunity for that. Especially since Sri Lanka is a country with very good potential for flower cultivation, the ambassador expressed her regret about the importation of flowers from foreign countries to Sri Lanka.
The Ambassador also said that Sri Lanka’s spices such as pepper, coffee, cinnamon and cardamom are the number one spices in the world and to focus on growing more of them for export.
The Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries, Mahinda Amaraweera, who expressed his opinion, mentioned that the government has allocated a lot of money this year for the further expansion of coffee and cinnamon cultivation.
The Minister also expressed his gratitude for the support of the Dutch government for training courses for trainers who want to train farmers for modern technology in the agricultural sector. The Minister also made a request to support the work order carried out by Sri Lanka for the modernisation of the agricultural sector.
Recalling the Dutch invasion of Sri Lanka in the 16th and 17th centuries particularly because of Sri Lankan spices, the ambassador expressed her happiness that since then Sri Lankan spices are still number one in the world.
Officials of the Ministry of Agriculture also participated in this event.
