Colombo, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): Sri Lanka is to build marinas for private boat parking in order to promote boating culture and support emerging boat building industry, a minister said on Friday.
Opening the biennial boat exhibition, Boat Show Sri Lank 2012, one of the leading boat shows in South Asia, Sri Lanka's Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen said the government has allocated funds to promote growing boat building industry.
"The treasury has allocated funds and a feasibility study has been started to build the first boat park," Bathiudeen said, adding that Sri Lanka after war in 2009 has emerged as the boat building hub in the region.
Studies have been carried out to build the first marina in Beruwarala, in the southern coastal city which is also famous for tourism. The boat builders have been lamenting that having no boat park has greatly hindered country's boating culture and boats and water sports being used for the booming tourism industry.
The boatbuilding industry was shattered by three decades civil war as major boat yards in the North were completely destroyed, but it was given a fresh start after 2004 Tsunami as many foreign countries intervened to support much affected fishing sector. The end of ethnic war in 2009, saw further boost in boat building for foreign markets, specially to the Europe and Scandinavian countries.
Earning 149 million U.S. dollars, last year Sri Lanka recorded 152 percent growth in exporting boats. This was following 20 million U.S. dollars and 54 million U.S. dollars income in boat exports in 2008 and 2009 respectively. The country is geared up to build more pleasure and leisure boats for foreign markets and aims to earn 500 million U.S. dollars in 2015 by exporting boats. (Xinhua-ANI)
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