Sri Lanka-India printing corridor presents vision for regional resilience and shared prosperity

Dhammika Siriwardana Pic by Pradeep Dilruckshana

By Nishel Fernando

A groundbreaking initiative, the potential of the India-Sri Lanka Printing Corridor was highlighted last week at the 8th Round Table Conference in Colombo, positioning itself as a strategic and visionary response to the complexities of the evolving global landscape.

Spearheaded by industry leaders and championed by figures such as Dhammika Siriwardana, this collaboration in the printing and packaging sectors aims to forge a deeply integrated value chain, leveraging the unique strengths of both nations to propel them into a high-growth trajectory within global markets.

Dhammika Siriwardana, addressing the conference, emphasized that the corridor is “not merely a bilateral trade initiative, but a visionary strategic response to the evolving global landscape.

“In a world grappling with shifting trade alliances, geopolitical tensions, and reconfiguring supply chains, the imperative for resilient regional partnerships has never been stronger. The initiative seeks to navigate global uncertainties, promote stability, and ensure mutual growth within a predictable framework, acting as a localized hedge against the fragmentation of global supply chains.

The printing and packaging industry, currently valued at over US$ 1.16 trillion globally and demonstrating a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.2 percent, is anticipated to undergo substantial expansion, particularly within the Asian region. This backdrop sets the stage for India and Sri Lanka, historically and culturally intertwined, to collaborate on a common goal, particularly as the rest of the world contends with trade tariffs and policy uncertainties.

India’s role in this corridor is envisioned as the “scale engine.” With a nominal GDP estimated to reach US$ 4.19 trillion in 2025 and a paper packaging market valued at over US$ 1.2 billion in 2023 (projected to hit US$ 2 billion by 2030), India offers an immense domestic market and a robust manufacturing capacity. 

Its burgeoning “Make in India” policy, diverse raw material base, and a population exceeding 1.4 billion provide a vast consumer base and a readily available labor force. This makes India not just a market but a vital source for raw materials and technological expertise for the print corridor. The rapidly expanding e-commerce sector, projected to reach US$ 450 billion by 2030, further fuels the demand for printing and packaging.

Siriwardana noted that Sri Lanka offers a unique and powerful proposition as a neutral trading partner and a crucial logistics gateway. Its strategic location on global shipping lanes, exemplified by the Port of Colombo’s record throughput of 7.7 million TEUs in 2024, makes it an unparalleled transshipment hub for the Indian Ocean. In an era of trade disputes, Sri Lanka’s neutrality positions it as a reliable and stable partner for both bilateral and multilateral trade.

Beyond logistics, Sri Lanka contributes a highly skilled workforce renowned for its precision, quality, and creativity, particularly valuable for high-value printed products. The nation’s printing and packaging sector is also increasingly focused on green printing, adopting eco-friendly practices and technologies such as LED UV printing. Siriwardana highlighted Sri Lanka’s potential to become a carbon-negative region by 2030-2035, leveraging natural hydropower and solar energy, opening avenues for carbon trading and carbon-negative production.

A critical aspect of the corridor is its aim to address the persistent trade imbalance between the two nations. In 2023, while bilateral trade reached US$ 4 billion, Sri Lanka faced a significant trade deficit, with its exports to India at only US$ 982.9 million against imports of US$ 3.1 billion. 

The print corridor directly targets this disparity by facilitating the collaborative production and export of high-value-added printing and packaging products from Sri Lanka, rebalancing the trade relationship.

The initiative seeks to transform a simple supply chain into a sophisticated high-value creation network. Siriwardana proposed that Sri Lanka could serve as a “value addition hub,” specifically for India’s extensive agri-supply chain. 

By synergizing their respective strengths and leveraging Sri Lanka’s strong commitment to green credentials, the corridor is positioned to cultivate a significantly larger market, particularly in Europe, where food security is an escalating concern.

The vision extends beyond the physical movement of goods to a robust exchange of ideas and technology. The partnership is expected to foster joint research and development in cutting-edge areas such as sustainable packaging materials, printed electronics, and digital instrumentation in print. This collaborative approach ensures both nations remain at the forefront of industry advancements. 

Furthermore, the initiative is set to encourage skills development through academic exchanges between printing institutes in India and Sri Lanka, nurturing new talent and innovative solutions and fostering a regional print tech startup ecosystem.

According to Siriwardana, two significant enabling factors underpin the corridor which includes complementary demographics and the booming e-commerce sector. India’s vast young population provides a large consumer market and labor pool for high-volume production, while Sri Lanka’s skilled workforce is ideal for specialized, high-value printing processes. The rapid expansion of e-commerce in both countries (India projected to reach US$450 billion by 2030, Sri Lanka US$ 4.61 billion in 2024) creates a substantial and expanding market for customized, innovative, and sustainable packaging solutions.

To ensure the corridor’s success, Siriwardana proposed several policy recommendations for governments and industrial stakeholders: streamlining customs and harmonizing standards, developing shared logistics infrastructure, enhancing investment incentives and protection, and promoting joint R&D and skill development to address trade imbalances through value addition.