Sri Lanka's Apex Organisation for Export Promotion
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) has made arrangements to facilitate export-oriented industries based on the circulars issued by the Government Health Authorities to continue operations of their activities during lockdown of specific areas in the country and inter-provincial travel restrictions subject to stringent health regulations.
Sri Lanka surpassed $ 1 billion exports in March 2021 after a lapse of six months period. As per the Customs statistics, earnings from merchandise exports recorded double digit growth of 62.47% in March 2021 on y-o-y comparison – the March figure being US$ 1,066.1 Mn.
The regulatory framework to develop Sri Lanka’s boat building industry was officially handed over to the implementing agencies under the patronage of Minister of Trade, Hon. Dr. Bandula Gunawardena on 29th March 2021 at the Trade Ministry.
Sri Lanka’s export earnings registered a growth of 2.52% with US$ Mn 993.73 in February, compared to the previous year, maintaining the growth momentum recorded during the last five months as per the provisional statistics released by Sri Lanka Customs. This is the highest export figure recorded for the month of February during the last five-year period.
Hon. Bandula Gunawardana, Minister of Trade urged the whole stakeholders to actively engage in assisting all exporters of the country in every possible manner during this turbulent period enabling exporters to strengthen our economy.
Sri Lanka Export Development Board (SLEDB) new Chairman Suresh de Mel this week expressed confidence of giving the best shot at realising a near $ 16 billion target for 2021 despite domestic and global challenges. This confidence stems from a plethora of new initiatives as well as fine-tuning existing endeavours to develop and boost exports.
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) is forecasting a performance of $ 15.68 billion in merchandise and service shipments in 2021.
The US$ 13.5 billion export target set for merchandise export sectors in early 2020 remains challenging, requiring not only strong efforts from local enterprises, but also the recovery of global demand amid complicated Covid-19 situation. Amid severe impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports remain at US$ 9.9 billion in 2020, which is a 104 % achievement from the revised forecast of US$ 9.5 billion.
The export development board is pleased to see an export focused budget which will support strong export growth led by investment, value addition and maximizing our Sri Lankan natural resources, this is a pivotal change in Sri Lanka’s growth strategy which will be led by the exporters.
Exports play an important role in a country’s economy as they influence the level of growth, employment and balance of payments. For Sri Lanka, the focus on exports is now more important than ever, as the island nation looks to bring in foreign currency to boost the economy.
Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman Prabhash Subasinghe yesterday urged that boosting exports must be everyone’s priority, as the key agency set an ambitious yet achievable target of $ 18.5 billion this year, up by 15% from 2019. EDB revealed that as per provisional data, last year Sri Lanka’s total merchandise and service exports amounted to $ 16.14 billion up by 1.44% from 2018. The composition was merchandise exports were $ 11.9 billion, up 0.13% and service exports were $ 4.2 billion, up by 5.3% from 2018. EDB originally targeted $ 18.5 billion exports for 2019, and the estimated performance reflects achievement of 87% of the goal.
The delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Sri Lanka (AHK Sri Lanka) together with the Export Development Board (EDB) organised the first-ever Sri Lankan pavilion at the world’s leading boat exhibition ‘Boot Show’ in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Sri Lanka yesterday launched the official website announcing the country’s participation in the six-month long Expo 2020 Dubai, anticipating a major boost to exports, tourism and investments while looking to enhance the country’s brand value and image globally.
Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara - two of the most iconic cricketers produced by the country has come on board as Sri Lanka’s Brand Ambassadors for Expo 2020 Dubai organized by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) as a public private cooperation project .
The boat and shipbuilding sector is identified as a focused sector in the National Export Strategy (NES) 2018-2020. This sector is a leading industry and an emerging export sector offering a wide variety of products and services to international markets.
The 23rd Presidential Export Award Ceremony (PEA) organized by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) was successfully held on 19th September 2019 under the patronage of His Excellency the President of Sri Lnaka at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), Colombo with the participation of the large number of exporters. The award winners were presented a prestigious PEA Trophy and a Certificate & they have the privilege to use the “Award Logo” as a marketing tool for a 3 year period.
The 23rd Presidential Export Award Ceremony organized by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) will be held on Thursday 19th September 2019 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) under the patronage of His Excellency the President of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s participation at Expo 2020 Dubai is set in a spectacular manner to ensure the strengthening of the country’s trade, tourism, and investments. The Sri Lanka Export Development Board plays a critical role, together with private and state organisations, to landmark Sri Lanka’s presence at this global event.
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) in association with the National Research Council (NRC) held an awareness session on the NRC’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Programme on 29th July, 2019, at the EDB Auditorium targeting the exporter community. The aim of the session was to educate exporters about the modalities of the PPP programme.
“This Act is truly visionary; I wish other countries had this in their export development framework!”, remarked a senior official of the Geneva-based International Trade Centre to me some months back. He was referring to the ‘Sri Lanka Export Development Act No. 40 of 1979’, which marks 40 years this month. He had found it to be an institutional arrangement that was far ahead of its time, and is still having relevance today – not just for Sri Lanka, but also for other developing countries. And he would know, having worked on export development strategies for over a dozen countries around the world.
