Keerthi Gunawardane receives highest honour from Lankan printers
Keerthi Gunawardane, a great contributor to the Sri Lankan printing industry, was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Sri Lanka Association of Printers (SLAP).
This award was presented only to the individuals who have made significant and exceptional contribution to the printing fraternity. The award was presented by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe at Shangri La Hotel, Colombo, at Printing Awards 2018, recently.
Gunawardane was President of the SLAP during the year 2006-2007. He studied the Indolanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the impact of the FTA on the Sri Lankan printing industry. He was one of the Presidents who studied the Sri Lanka printing industry’s potential and submitted many reports to the government.
He had fruitful discussions with the other stakeholders involved in packaging, book publishing and computer stationery manufacturing. In addition, he discussed this matter with the National Paper Corporation, which was objecting to make the paper duty free from the inception. During his presidency he managed to achieve the goal of making the imported paper duty free to Sri Lanka; the entire printing fraternity benefited this.
He has conducted many training programmes under his stewardship at the Sri Lanka Association of Printers as President to educate the printers and subsequently served as a Director of INGRIN Institute of Printing and Graphics and Sri Lanka Institute of Printing. He still serves as Chairman of the Advisory Committee to the Export Development Board on printing and packaging.
He organised few international events including the Forum of Asia Pacific Graphic Art Technology with the participation of members from Japan, China, Australia, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand in Sri Lanka with the Global printing fraternity. He attracted many experts to participate in the events conducted in Sri Lanka. He was the Conference Chairman in many of those events and brought glory to Sri Lanka.
After the tsunami he collected funds from various local and overseas organisations and supported all the printers and the individuals worked at printing companies. He created the SLAP Tsunami Relief Fund and assisted the effected printers. Under took to repair the printing machines of some of the printers along the coastal belt up to Matara. Some of the printing companies ware completely damaged including their machinery and buildings. In addition to support them to come back to business continues to support them for training and getting new equipment to rebuild their businesses and sustain.
He introduced the Lifetime achievement award for the first time to mark the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Sri Lanka Association of Printers. Gunawardane was a Silver award winner of the Sri Lanka Entrepreneur of the Year 1999 and 2001. His company was awarded CNCI Achiever of Industrial Excellence Award, National Business Excellence Awards, SLCBCC Business Star Awards and National Productivity Award. In the year 2001, his company was awarded the Award of Excellence and adjudged as the most productive company in the Small and Medium Category in Sri Lanka.
Gunawardane was one of the few awarded winners of the Pradeepa Pranama (2107) awarded to few individuals passed out from the Sri Jayewardenepura University for the contribution to the Sri Lankan business and national development of Sri Lanka.