Sri Lanka's Apex Organisation for Export Promotion
“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.
To help Sri Lankan companies eyeing the daunting Indian market, the International Trade and Development Strategies Ministry yesterday launched a new report to assist breaking into India, with Minister Malik Samarawickrama undertaking a visit to India this week to help local businesses find success across the Palk Strait.
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board [EDB] which turned 40 years on 1st August is the premier state organization for the development and promotion of exports. The Board plays myriad roles in the export sector of the economy, as a Policy Advisor, Monitor, Promoter, Facilitator and Knowledge Provider in carrying out its responsibilities of implementing strategies for achieving national export targets.
Despite global and local challenges, Sri Lanka’s merchandised and service exports have risen by 11.4% to $ 8.5 billion in the first half of this year, prompting the Government to attribute it to a series of development efforts and assure further support. Releasing the latest yet provisional data, Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama said yesterday that export sector performance was commendable, though he admitted there is significant scope for higher value. “The 11.4% growth, despite the impact of the October 2018 undemocratic constitutional coup, and the Easter Sunday tragedy, as well as global challenges, is very satisfactory. For the first time, three months of first half of 2019 - January, March and June - have produced over $ 1 billion worth of merchandised exports. We had originally set an ambitious $ 20 billion target for 2019, but we may miss it and end up at around $ 18.5 billion, which will be still higher than the $ 16 billion achieved last year,” Samarawickrama said.
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) has been conducting the Exporters’ Forum since its inception from late 70s. The EDB has identified the need of a common platform to discuss and resolve the issues faced by the exporter community in Sri Lanka in order to facilitate exporters to overcome constraints arising from policy and operational issues created by various institutes that regulate, operate, and facilitate cross border trade. The EDB as the nation’s prime institute to facilitate export development created this mechanism to enable exporters to submit their issues to the highest levels of state institutions that cannot be reached easily by a trader. The unique feature of the Exporters’ Forum is the participation of the private sector and the public sector to resolve issues, with the political leadership represented by the relevant minister together with direct ministry-level interventions providing solutions to address those issues.
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
2019-06-03/ http://www.ft.lk/business/Aitken-Spence-Printing-certified-with-world-s-leading-print-facility-validation/34-678693
Market leader Aitken Spence Printing & Packaging Ltd. has again proved itself as a trendsetter in the industry by obtaining the G7 Master Facility Qualification-Colourspace, the highest level of the G7 compliance and the most stringent.
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.
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.
The Regional Print Excellence Awards 2019 is one of the highly anticipated event in a biennial calendar of Sri Lanka Printing Industry. The event is focused on felicitating and recognizing printers outside Colombo, identifying their contribution to improve the standards of the industry by way of Quality and Creativity, meeting stringent industry standards and continuously reflecting high benchmarks the industry.
Sri Lanka’s merchandise and service exports in 2018 are estimated to have hit an all-time high of $ 17 billion, up 15% from a year earlier prompting the Government to be confident of achieving the $20 billion milestone this year.
The 22nd Presidential Export Awards Ceremony was held to celebrate the outstanding achievements of the Exporters at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo, on September 18, 2018, under the patronage of His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena the President of Sri Lanka.
Following is the address by Minister Malik Samarawickrama at the Presidential Export Awardson 18 September
Sri Lanka Association of Printers (SLAP) regularly organizes regional seminars in outstation cities targeting the printers in the category of Small and Medium Enterprisesas well as the prospective youth who are interested in starting their career in printing industry. The regional seminar of the 3rdquarter of the year organized by Sri Lanka Association of Printers (SLAP) was held on Saturday, 18th August 2018, at “Saketha MeduraHotel”, Gampaha. The seminar was a huge success and over 60 printersin medium and small enterprise categories, in Gampaha district and over 50 youth who were interested in joining the printing industry attended seminar.
The Sri Lanka Printers Exhibition organised by the Sri Lanka Association of Printers (SLAP) was inaugurated yesterday at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre (SLECC) under the patronage of Minister of Special Assignments Dr. Sarath Amunugama and SLAP Chairman Chandralal Jayawardana. Commercial Bank Chairman Dharmma Dheerasinghe, EDB Chairperson and Chief Executive Indira Malwatte and SLAP President Ranjith Fernando were also present as Chief Guests. The exhibition focuses on materials made with advanced technology needed for printing of newspapers
