SIGNIFICANT MOMENTS OVER THE YEARS

KELANI TYRES

Kelani Tyres PLC, a tyre manufacturing company in Sri Lanka originates in the privatisation of the government-owned Ceylon Tyre Corporation. In 1992, it was privatised as “Kelani Tyres” but was plagued with industrial unrest soon after for seven months. In 1993, Kelani Tyres signed a tripartite agreement with CEAT Ltd of India and Associated Motorways (AMW) which resulted in the creation of Associated CEAT (Pvt) Ltd. In 2022, CEAT was recognized amongst the 100 most valuable brands in Sri Lanka.

VALAICHCHENAI PAPER MILL

A state-owned paper mill located in the town of Valaichchenai, Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka, the Valaichchenai Paper Mill is considered the first paper factory in Sri Lanka established in 1955. With a total investment of about 32 million rupees, it was commissioned for commercial operation in 1956. The escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War during the 1990s in the Eastern province caused the government to implement new changes in the market policies with regard to the import of paper. This directly caused industrial difficulties and lowered its production levels drastically. After the defeat of LTTE, the government recommenced the operations of the Valaichchenai paper mill again.

AIR CEYLON

The former flag carrier airline of Sri Lanka, “Air Ceylon” was established in 1947. The government purchased three DC-3S, which were named after queens Sita Devi, Viharamaha Devi, and Sunethra Devi. On December 10, 1947 with Captain Peter Fernando at the controls and a complement of 16 passengers, Sita Devi took off her debut flight inaugurating the Air Ceylon commercial flights from Ratmalana runway. The airline discontinued flights to Europe in early 1978 and finally ceased all local services on August 31, 1979, when it was replaced by Air Lanka and then rebranded to “Srilankan Airlines” later.

CHE GUEVERA’S VISIT TO SRI LANKA

The current government of Cuba and the government of Sri Lanka established ties shortly after Fidel Castro’s ascent to power in 1959.

Sri Lanka was one of the first countries to recognize Cuba, when Che Guevara (then Industry Minister) visited Sri Lanka on a delegation to promote the sugar trade. The two countries had an unofficial relationship through trading in the late 1800s to early 1900s which was then made official in 1959. This relationship resulted in mixed communities in both countries. Small Sri Lankan communities are still present in some parts of Cuba, as well as people of Cuban mixed heritage in the northernmost parts of Sri Lanka.