Ambassador of the Netherlands to Sri Lanka says that there is a high demand for Agricultural Products of Sri Lanka in the International Markets and her country is ready to provide the necessary support to capture that Market.

Mrs. HE the Bonnie Horbach, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Sri Lanka said that there is a high demand for Sri Lanka's agricultural products in the international market, and the government and businessmen of Sri Lanka should be interested in capturing those markets. She has also said that she can provide the necessary support for that.

A discussion was held yesterday (26) afternoon at the Ministry of Agriculture among her and Mr. Michial Van Erkel, advisor regarding the agricultural aspects of the Netherlands Embassy and the Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries, Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera in the aim of developing technical relations between the Netherlands and Sri Lanka related to agriculture and plantation industry.

In particular, the new agricultural technology and training currently used by the Netherlands were discussed in here. Discussions were held regarding the trainers training courses currently being run by the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Peradeniya with the support of the Dutch government. It was also discussed on taking steps to further expand the training courses and increase the number of students who are given training.

The Ambassador also said that most of the ornamental flowers imported to the Netherlands are from Kenya and Sri Lanka can provide an opportunity for that. Especially since Sri Lanka is a country with very good potential for flower cultivation, the Ambassador expressed her regret about the importation of flowers from foreign countries to Sri Lanka.

The Ambassador also said that Sri Lanka's spices such as pepper, coffee, cinnamon and cardamom are the number one spices in the world and to focus on growing more of them for export.

The Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries, Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera who expressed his opinion mentioned that the government has allocated a large amount of money this year for the further expansion of coffee and cinnamon cultivation.

The Minister also expressed his gratitude for the support of the Dutch government for training courses for trainers required to train farmers for modern technology in the agricultural sector. The Minister also made a request to support the work order carried out by Sri Lanka for the modernization of the agriculture sector.

Recalling that the Dutch invaded Sri Lanka in the 16th and 17th centuries because of Sri Lankan spices, the Ambassador expressed her happiness that since then Sri Lankan spices are still number one in the world.

Officials of the Ministry of Agriculture also participated in this event.