Aug 18, Colombo: Sri Lanka Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa and Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne will declare open the third largest canned fish factory tomorrow in Peliyagoda in the outskirts of Colombo city.

The factory "Tess Mackerel" has been established under the Tess Group of Companies with an investment of Rs.170 million.

The canned fish factory has the capacity to produce 48,000 cans of fish per day.

This is the third and the largest of the planned canned fish factories and the other two which have the capacity of producing 10,000 cans each per day are now operating in Galle in the South and Mundalama in Puttalam district with the assistance of the Ministry of Fisheries.

On average Sri Lankans consume around 50,000 fish cans per day and the government spends over Rs. 4 billion annually for canned fish imports.

The government expects to produce 40,000 fish cans per day by the three factories initially and curtail the imports at least by 30 percent.

The government says it will save a massive foreign expenditure that flows out of the country for canned fish and also will be able to provide a high quality product while providing employment for the local youth.