Navin Dissanayake, Minister of Plantation Industries met the Secretary General of ANRPC and members of the Working Group at a dinner hosted at Hotel Taj Samudra, Colombo. Upali Marasinghe, Secretary of the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Lakna Paranawithana, Adviser to the Minister of Plantation Industries were also present.

Minister discussed the issue of prevailing low rubber price with the officials of ANRPC and requested them to devise a sustainable mechanism to alleviate the problems of rubber smallholders. They agreed to submit a report containing their recommendations to respective governments after obtaining the approval from the executive board of the ANRPC.

At present, all the rubber producing countries are facing the issue of low rubber price which affects millions of vulnerable people. In September, another workshop will be held in Sri Lanka under the aegis of International Rubber Research & Development Board and the Sri Lanka Rubber Research Institute to identify effective coping mechanisms for low rubber prices.  Once all the recommendations are received, an action plan will be formulated by the Ministry of Plantation Industries to be implemented to bring relief to rubber producers.