"Not taking advantage of growing India & China would be a shame" – Dr. Koshy Mathai
The Exporters' Association of Sri Lanka (EASL) affiliated to the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce held its 15th Annual General Meeting recently. Dr. Koshy Mathai, Resident Representative for International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Sri Lanka & Maldives, was the Chief Guest at the event, whilst Mr. Janaka Ratnayaka, Chairman/CEO of Export Development Board was the Guest of Honour.
Mrs. Dawn Austin Managing Director of Nidro Supply (Pvt) Ltd was re-elected as the Chairperson of EASL, while Mr. Rohan Daluwatte, Manager, Operations & Logistics, Tea Tang Ltd and Mr. Sarada De Silva Chairman/ Managing Director of Intercom Limited were re-elected as 1st Vice Chairman and 2nd Vice Chairman respectively.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Mathai stated that Sri Lanka "is a small economy and it is only going to grow, not based on satisfying domestic demand but based on satisfying the demands of the rest of the world.
Exports are a key ingredient to Sri Lanka's economic success. We are not going to have sustained economic success if we are going to have exports declining relative to the size of the economy. It is only with economic growth that Sri Lanka's economy is going to go forward."
Speaking of how Sri Lanka can benefit from the growing economies in the region, Dr. Mathai went on to point out that not just India, but the Southern Indian states specifically have been growing extremely fast probably at double digit rate if Indian national growth rates are so high. Sri Lanka has a huge population not very far away from its shores which is growing fast and it should be able to absorb a lot more of Sri Lankan exports. He pointed out that Sri Lanka is blessed with strategically important geography, particularly important economic geography. "India and China were not the power houses of the global economy several years ago. But now they are. That meant that it may have been in order not to have taken advantage of those economies earlier but failing to take advantage provided by the economic progress of those areas today would be a shame," said Dr. Mathai.
Mr. Janaka Ratnayaka, Chairman of Export Development Board said that it must be mentioned that our export figures are based specifically on merchandize exports without taking services into consideration. Even though numbers are important our primary objective is to reach the target of US$ 15 bn. by 2015 as envisaged in Mahinda Chinthana.
He said that "In order to achieve this we have formulated our Strategic Plan which has identified seven thrust product sectors namely Apparel, Tea, Rubber & rubber based products, Gems Diamond & Jewellery, ICT/BPO, Food & beverages, Spices & allied product."
Mr Ratnayaka went on to point out that the Sri Lankan economy and exports are driven by the private sector. Therefore it is vital that the country should formulate a national exports policy within the frame work of 'Mahinda Chinthana' to implement export led economic growth model. Foreign Donor Agencies should rethink their policies to assist the private sector to build their businesses in emerging countries as we are yet to see a Billion Dollar company in our country.
Mrs. Dawn Austin, the re-elected Chairperson of EASL noted that whilst depreciating the SLRs was , and is considered to have been the right thing to do for the overall economy of the country, the 'flexible rate of exchange' which overnight depreciated the SLR by between 14%and 18% and which continues to dog the finance markets has, besides impacting on interest rates, also resulted in an unhealthy rate of inflation. Increased costs of Fuel and Energy and attendant raw material required for manufacture goods, plus the demand for increased wages in the light of inflation has thus far negated the ability/plan for Exporters to make use of the devaluation of the SLRs to become more competitive in the global market.
She also went on to state that in the year past the Managing Committee has continued to engage with several Government Ministries, and Authorities, directly as also at different fora at which proposals and constraints have had to be discussed and that the EASL truly values the dialogue it has had with these Organizations in the past year.
The mission of EASL (which is under the umbrella of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce) is to promote and protect the interests of the Exporter Community at large. It has brought together a wide spectrum of Exporters under a strong single platform aimed at exchanging views and making representations on Macro issues relevant to the country's Exports. ( For more info :www.exporterssrilanka.org)
The Following members were elected on to the Managing Committee of the Exporters' Association, Year 2012/2013
a) Members Elected by the membership
1. |
Adamexpo |
Mr. Imran Zahir / Mr. Waruna Priyankara |
2. |
Aitken Spence Exports (Pvt) Ltd |
Mr. Danesha Perera / Mr S Sridheran |
3. |
Ansell Lanka (Pvt) Ltd |
Mr. Gayan Perera / Mr. Tissa Mendis |
4. |
Akbar Brothers (Pvt) Ltd |
Mr. T Sambasivam |
5. |
Bosanquet and Skrine Ltd |
Mr. Sunil Karunanayake |
6. |
CAL Exports Lanka (Pvt) Ltd |
Mr. Nazvi Hassan / Mr. Jayantha De Mel |
7. |
Ceylon Biscuits Ltd |
Mr. Jude Rubera / Mr. Priyantha Bandara |
8. |
Edinborough Products Pvt Ltd |
Mr. M K N Marikkar |
9. |
Finlays Colombo |
Mr. Samantha Weerakoon |
10. |
Hayleys Plc |
Mr. Chrisso De Mel |
11. |
Hands International Pvt Ltd |
Mr. Eranga Senanayake / Mr. Farha Izadeen |
12. |
Intercom (Pvt) Ltd |
Mr. B Sarada M De Silva / Ms B Yeshani S De Silva |
13. |
Link Natural Products (Pvt) Ltd |
Mr. Fazal Mushin |
14. |
Microcells (Pvt) Ltd |
Mr. Anil Wickremeratne / Mr. Kanishka Samaraweera |
15. |
Nidro Supply (Pvt) Ltd |
Mrs. Dawn S. Austin |
16. |
Shums & Co Pvt Ltd |
Mr M H Talal Shums |
17. |
Tea Tang (Pvt) Ltd |
Mr. Rohan Daluwatte / Mr. Yohan Benedict |
18. |
Union Commodities (Pvt) Ltd |
Ms. Anjalee Weerasooriya |
b)Representatives nominated from Product Associations
Sri Lanka Gem & Jewellery Association |
Mr. Ali Suhail/ Mr. Ahamed Shareek |
Lanka Fruit & Vegetable Producers' Processors and Exporters Association |
Mrs. Indira Malwatte / Mr. Zuraish Hashim |
Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters' Association |
Mr. A J Rumy / Mr. Prasad Siriwardena |
Sri Lanka Manufacturers & Exporters of Rubber Products |
Mr. Saifuddin Jafferjee/ Mr. Justin Senaviratne |
Sri Lanka Rubber Traders Association |
Mr. Harin De Silva / Mr. T Shums |
Floriculture Produce Exporters' Association |
Mrs. Ramya Weerakoon/Mr. I Anandatissa |
Colombo Tea Traders Association |
Mr. T. Sambasivam / Mr. D. Pathmanathan |
Seafood Exporters Association |
Mr. Roshan Fernando / Mr. Prabash Subasinghe |
Sri Lanka Diamond Manufactures Association |
Mr. Sanjay Baid |
Spices & Allied Products Producers Association |
To be informed after SAPTA AGM |
c)Past Chairmen
Mr. G. S. Chatoor Mr. A S M Muzzammil Mr. Mohan Mendis Mr. Deepal Chandrasekera Mrs. Nirmali Samaratunga
Membership of the Association is open to any member of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce engaged in or interested in export, or any properly constituted and functioning Association representing exporters of products and services and any member of such an Association.
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