“We were number 2 to Turkey in both 2016 and 2017 but we managed to top the list in 2018 due to our hard work and commitment and also aggressive marketing in this country, a jubilant Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Iraq , Major General Niranjan Asoka Ranasinghe said by telephone from Baghdad yesterday.

He also said that one of the reasons for the success of Ceylon Tea in Iraq was the massive promotional campaign which was conducted by the Voice of America coinciding with the Ceylon Tea sesquicentennial (150th Anniversary which was at Tea Party which had 150 frontline Iraqi businessmen which gave Sri Lanka the much needed exposure in the Gulf and other countries in the region encompassing 49 countries.

He also said that even in the month of January 2018, Iraq topped the list of Ceylon Tea Buyers and was followed by Russia, Turkey and Iran.This is indeed a very decisive achievement for us as Iraq has a population of 37.3 million Vis a Vis 144.3 million in Russia, Iran’s 80.2 million and Turkey 79.5 million people

In the first quarter of 2018, Iraq also topped the list among the importers with 9.6 million kilos up 28.1 % from the corresponding period a year before which was for domestic consumption unlike the other countries like Turkey which imported the Ceylon Tea for bending purposes, he said.