EDB chief calls to increase contribution to 1% of merchandise exports
Export Development Board
(EDB) Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Indira Malwatte urged the Sri Lanka Ceramic and Glass Council (SLCGC) to set a target to double the exports from 0.5 percent to 1 percent of merchandise exports within a period five years.
She requested SLCGC members to work on target to double the industry’s composition of merchandise exports to 1 percent in five years, while focusing on advanced products such as dental implants, paints, medicinal pills and tablets, food colouring etc.
She pointed out that the government has set a target to double the exports by 2023 to US $30.7 billion, and noted that Sri Lanka is on route to achieve the US $17.4 billion export target this year as 60 percent of it has been already achieved by end of August.
Malwatte, who graced the SLCGC Annual General Meeting as the guest of honour, stressed that differentiating products utilising technology is crucial for Sri Lankan exporters in order to become competitive in global markets.
She also urged the firms to reap the benefits of EDB offered programmes , particularly the Market Access programme, which provides grants to exporters to strengthen their market presence, to invest in R&D and to receive necessary international certification for their products. Responding to the lack of a mechanism to implement anti-dumping laws, Malwatte said that the different State agencies are working on setting up a structure to implement the anti-dumping laws and in the meantime the Department of Commerce will carry out antidumping and countervailing duty investigations based on complaints received from the private sector.
She noted that EDB has initiated several programmes targeting the ceramic sector such as a project to develop new ecofriendly red clay roof tiles for international markets and a product development programne for body preparation of red clay products.