Sri Lanka's Apex Organisation for Export Promotion
The Sri Lanka visiting delegation to Dubai for signing of Official Participation Contract of Expo 2020 Dubai has met with Mr. Kamal Vachani, Group Director of Al Maya Group, a main Super Market Chain in United Arab Emirates. The Sri Lanka delegation for the meeting was led by Ms. Indira Malwatte, Chairperson & Chief Executive of Sri Lanka Export Development Board. Mr. Chaitha Yattogoda, Consul General of Sri Lanka in Dubai was also present for the meeting together with other private and public sector delegates.
Sri Lanka is making a renewed attempt to leverage its geographic advantage in the East-West shipping route, this time as a boat builder and marine tourism destination under the National Export Strategy. The five-year plan formally launched in July 2018 identifies boat building and its related services as one of five key industries to expand Sri Lanka’s export basket and increase export earnings to $ 28 billion by 2022.
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) is planning to hold the 23rd Presidential Export Awards Ceremony under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena on 19 September at the BMICH
The global wellness tourism market is expected to reach USD 1,062.83 billion by the end of 2025. The growing interests of the tourists towards the sectors such as health, travel, and foods are the factors driving the growth of the market over the forecast period. However, the rising number of tourist destinations in developing countries such as India and China have attracted more customers from the international market.
The Eighth seminar for the Ratnapura District entrepreneurs on the national program of developing 2000 New Exporters was held on June 07, 2019 at the Kethumathi Hotel, Ratnapura,
The Export Development Board (EDB) Advisory Committees of the focus sectors of the National Export Strategy reported their sector progress, issues and targets for the year 2019 at the core team meeting chaired by Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama on 30 May at the Ministry.
The Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) has deferred the proposed hike in port tariffs until December, to support the economy in the aftermath of Easter Sunday attacks, SLPA Chairman Kavan Ratnayaka told Mirror Business.
The logistics industry is reshaping and evolving its role to facilitate a new order of global trade, e-commerce and to reach out to the 21st century consumer with flexibility and speed, modernising the global supply chains. For this reason, strategic distribution hubs connected by air and sea and proximity to markets and transportation hubs makes a location suitable for international logistics to provide services at minimal costs.
Given Sri Lanka’s strategic geographic location along the main east-west sea route in the Indian Ocean, at the crossroads of the fastest growing region of the world with proximity to many emerging markets, the Country is ideally positioned as a very viable hub in the South Asian Region. Underscoring Sri Lanka’s attractiveness as a hub, the Port of Colombo is globally recognized among the top dozen ‘best connected’ container ports worldwide, with all major container shipping lines using it as the primary regional hub for transshipment to and from the sub-continent.
Connecting global markets has always been a core value proposition for Sri Lanka. For centuries the island nation has leveraged its strategic geopolitical positioning to connect the East and the West. Now, as traditional logistics models are disrupted by technological advancements, geographic location is gradually losing its relevance. Despite this, Sri Lanka looks set to continue being a vital piece of the global logistics puzzle through a transition from one core strength to another: a world class tech industry and strong affinity for disruptive digital innovation. The country’s robust talent pool and innovative culture has helped it be a part of global supply chains that would never traditionally cross Lankan shores. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the case of 99X Technology and IceFresh.
Sri Lanka has built a reputation for churning out world-class solutions for multi-billion-dollar industries around the world. Availability and access to top engineering talent, creativity and resourcefulness, and a collaborative mentality to co-innovate solutions differentiate Sri Lanka from other locations.
2019-05-24/ http://www.ft.lk/it-telecom-tech/SLANSHEI-and-SLASSCOM-engage-in-strategic-partnership-to-boost-IT-BPM-industry-capacity/50-678908
The Sri Lankan Association of Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) announces the signing of a strategic partnership with the Sri Lanka Association of Non-State Higher Education Institutes (SLANSHEI), the umbrella organisation formed through the initiation of seven leading private educational bodies addressing the needs of the non-state higher education sector in the country.
“Raavana 1”, Sri Lanka’s first satellite, a cube satellite designed and developed by a team of Sri Lankan engineers was successfully carried to International Space Station from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia on February 18, 2019. “Raavana 1” will be deployed to 400km orbit in mid June 2019, and will be in operation from July 2019 onwards after establishing communication links with the ground station at Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT). This was part of a landmark project of the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, functions under the purview of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research. ACCIMT is a key public sector technology institute in Sri Lanka working in this unique field of Space Technology (or Space Engineering).
Sri Lanka is home to a rapidly growing ICT/ BPM industry that thrives on innovation, tech development, and high-end service standards. Rather than going on the path of competing with other developing countries for headcount based outsourced businesses, Sri Lanka focused on developing a niche and specialized talent base carving out a competitive position for high-end product & service development and knowledge services.
Transforming Sri Lanka into the hub of the Indian Ocean, with a knowledge-based, highly competitive and social-market economyis the objective of the Vision 2025 policy document of the Government.Making the transistion to anexport, FDI and tourism orientedcountry is the only optionfor Sri Lanka to create better jobs for the youth of our country and to graduate to a higher income economy.
A top level Sri Lankan ICT/BPM delegation organised by the Export Development Board successfully participated at the Japan IT Week 2019 from 8 to 10 May.
As per the instructions of the Hon. Malik Samarawickrama, Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade, Export Development Board organized a meeting with the key Exporters and Investors on Friday 03rd May 2019 at the 3rd Floor Auditorium to discuss the current situation of the country.
Sri Lanka’s share in the global export market and the contribution of exports to the national GDP has been in decline whereas imports to the country is in the increase. Further exports are dependent on imported inputs therefore, it is noted that the gap between export and import has been continuously increasing.
Initiative of upward tariff revision by the SLPA has become a controversial matter raising many concerns of exporters/importers during tough times where Sri Lanka is trying to find their position back in the world map as a competitive exporter. However, the SLPA seems adamant to go-ahead with this implementation disregarding the concerns raised by the industry sources revealed. Though the players who are engaged in the international trade continuously insisted that, rates remain unchanged, it is unfortunate that the Authorities are still trying to act in favor of the upward revision.
The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brazil successfully organised a three-day trade and tourism promotional event in Sao Paulo, the commercial capital of Brazil, from 20 to 22 February. The event drew the interest of a large number of prominent Brazilian importers, trade consultants, officials of trade associations, travel journalists and travel trade industries based in Sao Paulo.
