The inaugural ceremony was held at Ceylon Continental Hotel yesterday (Feb18). The President’s speech was read by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka in the absence of the President due to unavoidable circumstances.

The President’s message stated that the printing industry in the North and East collapsed with the killing of employees in the printing trade in their workplaces by terrorists at the outset of the war.

He said the printing industry needed democracy which could not prevail when terrorists threatened the printers what to publish and what not to in the past.

The President added that the Government ended an era in which the terrorists destroyed printing houses carrying critical views on them.

“The stakeholders in the printing industry were skeptical when modern technology was introduced to the industry. The people welcomed the new technology in the printing sector with open arms,” he said.

The President said the people are always ready to stand on par with the latest technology in the world.

He said the traditional printing industry did not collapse and nobody lost employment with the advent of digital technology in the country.

The minor employees attached to publishing houses and printers sometime back had started their own industries on a small scale with the help of digital technology.

President Rajapaksa said that the Government was able to increase the IT literacy rate to almost 25 percent within three years and the future of the country is based on knowledge.

“The printing sector can play a major role in the Government’s endeavour to develop the country as a knowledge hub in the Asian region”, he further said.