Orana to invest $1.5 million to build a fruit processing plant in Sri Lanka

Cabinet gave its approval to reach an agreement between Danish juice producer ORANA and Lanka Industries Development Board to provide ORANA with two acres of land for the establishment of a fruit processing plant from Pannala Industrial Zone.

The Industrial Development Board of Sri Lanka will sign an agreement to provide the company with a 02-acre block of land in Pannala, in the island's central north area.

ORANA has already planned to invest $1.5 million to build a fruit processing plant in the Pannala Industrial Zone and expected to provide 30 job opportunities during this project's first phase.

ORANA has produced a wide range of conventional fruit preparations and fruit compounds for all kinds of fermented milk such as yogurt, yogurt eating, and milk drinks. Their product range is of the highest quality, and most items customised to the needs of each market, the customer's production equipment, and the consumer's taste.

Within the range of fruit preparation and fruit compound for yogurt, they have established some exciting combinations where several different fruits combined with more exotic and functional ingredients such as Nata de Coco, Water Chestnuts, Green Tea, Echinacea, Ginkgo Biloba, Ginseng, Aloe Vera and many more.

Last year, the World Bank approved a $125 million loan for Sri Lanka to boost agricultural resilience and productivity for more than 470,000 small farmers in six provinces in the country's dry area. Sri Lanka is especially vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods and droughts due to climate. The agriculture sector, which contributes about 7.7% to the economy of the country and employs 27% of the population, more than 38% of whom are women. (Data Source: World Bank).

The government will identify locations to build up significant scale storage facilities for agricultural produce and intervene to build up those facilities. Hence it will enable the domestic farmers and producers to export value-added products instead of exporting commodities in raw form.

A series of export villages will establish in Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Puttalam, Monaragala and Hambantota for growing pepper both for domestic use and export. Foreign investors will invite to produce innovative agriculture-related products under trade names.

OSL Take:Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector is ripe with business/investment opportunities due to the development and upgrading of the country’s agriculture industry to be on par with global standards. The Sri Lankan Government has also taken many steps to improve the ease of doing business environment in the country and has made massive progress in infrastructure development as well.

Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning, along with the many trade agreements and trade concessions enjoyed by the country, makes it an attractive business destination. Therefore, foreign businesses/investors could explore setting up businesses in Sri Lanka as the base for the South Asian region.

VBS/AT/20200406/Z_TB1