Hayleys Plantations to hold International Sustainability Summit

Event takes place at BMICH Colombo on 21st July

Most prominent speakers to share insights

Buyers across the world to join online

By Sanath Nanayakkare

Hayleys Plantations, a leader in progressive plantations management in Sri Lanka, is convening an International Sustainability Summit on 21 July 2023 at BMICH Colombo.

The forum will be bringing together local and global experts to share their expertise and explore innovations to enhance the sustainability practices of the plantations industry. The full-day event will see active participation of academia, government / non-government authorities and research institutes.

Organised under the theme: ‘Towards Sustainable Plantations – Reimagined | Redesigned | Resilient’, the summit aims to forge new pathways for collaboration and integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into modern plantation management strategies.

Commenting on the initiative, Hayleys Plantations Managing Director, Dr. Roshan Rajadurai said: “We are proud to unveil the International Sustainability Summit, as it is a unique opportunity to bring together stakeholders across the industry to share best practices and drive long-term change towards sustainable management. The initiative will serve as a platform for meaningful conversation and collaboration while driving positive change and innovation across the industry.”

“We have a responsibility as a leading group in the plantation sector to get the collaboration of other plantation companies that have a stake in the sector to create a sustainable plantation eco-system. Dr. Rajadurai said.

Responding to a question from The Island Financial Review whether the Summit also aims at attracting climate financing from global funding agencies, he said,” Yes, exactly. We are aiming at a public, private and the State’s partnership in this context. Ceylon Tea is a globally recognized brand as it is most sustainably and ethically produced. So we want to convey the message across the globe that Ceylon tea is unique. And when the industry does well, all the stakeholders will get the benefit from that effort.”

Hayleys Plantations further noted that a large number of overseas buyers will be logging in to follow the entire proceedings of the Summit and that will give them a broader awareness about the sustainability practices adopted by the plantation sector in Sri Lanka, which will help increase the volumes of exports from Sri Lanka.

The Summit will focus on the integration of BIO (Biosphere), GEO (Geosphere), SOCIO (Social), and ECONO (Economy) towards sustainable, ethical, and equitable value sharing in Plantations Management Models. The objectives of the summit include identifying unique sustainable factors that define the long-term stability of business processes, proposing potential long-term solutions for current challenges, building a platform for multi-sector collaboration for common challenges, and driving long-term best practices to further encourage sustainable multi-stakeholder choices.

Comprising of the three top-rated Regional Plantation Companies, Kelani Valley Plantations PLC (KVPL), Talawakelle Tea Estates PLC (TTEL) and Horana Plantations PLC (HPL), the Hayleys Plantations sector owns 60 tea and rubber estates covering approximately 26,137 hectares of land spanning three distinctive agro-climatic regions.