Korean firm enters BOI deal to manufacture packing items made...

The Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka recently signed a supplementary agreement with J and D Venture (Pvt) Limited. Under the supplementary agreement, the company will be manufacturing packing and display items made of printed/unprinted value-added die-cut corrugated cartons.

They will also manufacture garment accessories such as stickers and body cards for export at their existing plant which is located in Katuwawala, Boralesgamuwa.

The global paper packaging market is valued at US$ 265.34 billion in 2018. By 2025, it is estimated to reach US$ 383.94 billion, growing at a CAGR of 5.42 percent.

Growing consumer awareness for sustainable packaging and increasing environmental concerns are some of the factors favouring the market growth.

Many countries are pushing for paper packaging products over plastic packaging, which poses a significant threat to the environment.

The agreement was signed on behalf of the BOI by its Chairman Mangala Yapa, and for the company by J and D Venture directors Seong Eun Lee and Seok Ok Jang.

Jeong Ho Lee and Seok Ok Jang invested in Sri Lanka as BOI projects, Da-sung Industrial (Pvt) Limited and Jin-sung Industrial (Pvt) Limited in 1993.

They were pioneers of manufacturing woven labels in Sri Lanka. As operations started to grow, they invested in several other BOI projects manufacturing handtags, screen printing and embroidery garments.

“Having been born in South Korea, our countries have gone through similar modern histories, especially the fact that both have had to recover from an economically debilitating civil war.

“South Korea like Sri Lanka moved to propagate the manufacturing sector as a means to pull themselves out from hard times and become more economically selfsufficient.

“Even today, manufacturing alone accounts for about 40 percent of South Korea’s GDP and is extremely important for nations that are looking to develop their respective economies.

“I strongly hope to support the process of strengthening Sri Lanka’s manufacturing sector by implementing some of the economic strategies that were used in South Korea and help Sri Lanka’s wider economic ecosystem in the process,” Seong Eun Lee said.