Sri Lanka and Australia sign MoU to boost specialty coffee
EconomyNext: Sri Lanka’s Department of Export Agriculture (DEA), and Australia’s Market Development Facility (MDF) have announced an agreement to develop a ‘roadmap’ to further develop the island’s emerging specialty coffee sector.
The roadmap will outline the current status of the market, identify gaps and highlight key action points, MDF said in a statement.
“MDF will also work with the DEA to improve the quality of coffee processing, conduct sector-relevant training and share MDF developed training modules with farmers and processors.”
Sri Lanka’s coffee industry is making a comeback, with increasing production and demand, MDF said.
“Australia has been a committed supporter of Sri Lanka’s coffee journey since 2017 through MDF. It’s been a long but rewarding road and we’re so pleased to see the sector gaining greater recognition with each passing year,” Australian Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Lalita Kapur said.
The DEA, MDF and Lanka Coffee Association (LCA), hosted the fourth-annual Sri Lanka Coffee Festival in Kandy last week.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s commodity exports are on a steady growth path with tea, coffee and cinnamon as well as products based on these commodities witnessing a growth in foreign markets. The many trade agreements and trade concessions enjoyed by Sri Lanka with many foreign countries have helped boost Sri Lanka’s exports to foreign markets. Sri Lanka is also looking at further expanding trade ties to develop access to more foreign markets. It is in such a backdrop that Sri Lanka and Australia have signed an MoU on specialty coffees. It is therefore evident that Sri Lankan exporters have to focus on further expanding their export product portfolio through the introduction of innovative and value-added products. While Sri Lanka’s exports sector is on an overall growth path, the move to add more value to products to meet the evolving needs of foreign markets have all expanded business/investment opportunities for foreign businesses/investors on the lookout for lucrative ventures in Sri Lanka.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20250716/Z_4 |