Addressing the 25th Annual General Meeting of the Exporters' Association of Sri Lanka, Mr. Talal Shums, The Chairman of the EASL.

15th July 2022

Good Afternoon ladies and Gentleman, firstly, thank you all for reelecting me as the Chairman of the Exporters Association of Sri Lanka at its 25th Annual general Meeting.

The Annual Report has covered the affairs of the Exporters Association over the past year. It has indeed been a very interesting year for Exporters with most Export companies gaining from the rapid Depreciation of the Exchange Rate. However, the year has also seen many challenges facing our industries.

As I mentioned in my last speech at last years' AGM The need of the hour is increased Exports and I would like to reiterate that the EASL as well as our members have a very large role to play in the recovery of our economy.

I would like to Further state that we are now witnessing the results of bad policy decisions by the policy makers as Sri Lanka is currently going through one of its most trying economic crisis in its history.

Some of the major Challenges that the industry is currently facing is lack of Raw Material due to import restrictions, an increase in Skilled migration and lack of basic necessities such as power and fuel to run a smooth operation. Apart from this, high inflation has caused undue pressure on businesses as well as individuals.

COVID 19 is now behind us and I would like to place on record our appreciation to the EDB as well as the Government in getting our staff in the Export industry priority in terms of being vaccinated which has helped us have continuous orders throughout the pandemic period.

Moving forward, the EASL is in constant engagement with the authorities along with the Joint Chamber Forum as well as the Export Sector Forum to help revive Sri Lanka's economy.

As stated previously, we would like to work with the authorities by engagement and not through confrontation and we would like more inclusiveness and greater engagement with policy makers.

At every meeting, we have attended both with the Policymakers as well as the opposition we have been pushing to develop a National Export Strategy and will continue with our recommendation for a National Export Strategy document NEDEV's and would like to play an active role in formulating future strategy to increase exports from Sri Lanka.

I believe it is time for us to Appreciate the work done by JAAF and SLAMERP in helping the country import essential goods such as medication, fuel and gas and would encourage all other exporters to help Sri Lanka in its time of need. More details on how you can help could be obtained by Speaking to 2nd VC Mr. Yohan Lawrence.

The year ahead is definitely going to be a challenging one. Saying that we are in the best position to help the county and I look forward to doing our bit to help Sri Lanka through the current crisis.