Electrical & Electronic Products

Closely linked to the global trends of ‘digitization’, ‘automation’, ‘miniaturization’ and development of sustainable green energy,  the Electrical and Electronic industry in Sri Lanka is progressively stepping into the global value-added supply chain with a range of cutting edge products and services. 

Sri Lankan Electrical and Electronic service providers develop and manufacture products relevant to power generations and transmissions, the automobile industry, industrial automation, electrical device development, consumer electrical item development and biomedical instrument development observe ROHS and WEEE regulations, and in conformity with the ILO requirements. 

In addition, Sri Lanka is also a centre of excellence for electronics design and development and the industry has moved towards emerging technologies like IoT, Robotics, Bio-medical, Analytics, and advanced Research and Development.

Country’s success in the electrical and electronics sector can be greatly attributed to the availability of a workforce with a specialised tertiary level education qualification in electrical and electronics engineering sectors, as well as the highly trainable youth population. 

Sri Lankan Electrical and Electronics industry is progressively stepping in to the global electronics value-added supply chain with products and services finding acceptance amongst the most important global market leaders. It had a boom in 1980’s with investments from Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, India, United Kingdom and Germany for mass scale component manufacturing. The sector has grown as an export-led industry over past 45 years contributing 435 US$ mn to the Sri Lanka exports in 2018. The industry mainly caters for automobile, telecommunication, consumer electronics, industrial automation and many other verticals.

The Sri Lankan exporters in Electronics/Electrical Industry are all ISO certified, committed towards protecting the environment, observe ROHS and WEEE regulations, decent labor in conformity with the ILO requirements. Major products exported include boards and panels (41% of electronic components), electrical wires (23%), and transformers (21%) while other miscellaneous products make up the remainder. Employment generation in this industry is approximately 30,000 including top-caliber researchers and design engineers. Currently, there are more than 70 companies engaged in design manufacturing and exporting of electronic and electrical products. The Industry has therefore found wide acceptance and is increasingly attracting sophisticated buyers from Electronics Manufacturing Services partners.

At present the country becomes a center of excellence for electronics design and development and the industry move towards the emerging technologies as IoT, Robotics, Bio-medical, Analytics and to world known Research and Development. 

The top 10 exporting destinations are Switzerland, Maldives, United States, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Bangladesh, India, and Germany.

Strengths of Sri Lankan electrical and electronics industry are like Trade relations with Europe and proximity to Indian booming electronic and automotive markets, Skilled middle tier technology workforce and intelligent and trainable labor in conformity with the ILO requirements, British commercial law System with English as the business language, European & Japanese Technology descent with matured investments, Adherence to all international Standards with cutting edge technology, Extensive availability of high quality minerals such as kaolin, feldspar, silica sand, quartz and ilmenite, which could be used as a base material for electronic products, and Sri Lankan exporters receive preferential market access under GSP Plus scheme, and several bilateral and other agreements, including the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement and Pakistan-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement.

The field is popular amongst the students following undergraduate to post-graduate study programmes. Several universities  in Sri Lanka produce graduates in the fields of electrical, electronics and computer engineering. Many state institutes  also provide in house Testing, research and development facilities as well as troubleshooting expertise with training.

The availability of highly trainable youth and skilled professionals in the form of design engineers, manufacturing engineers and managers contribute positively to this growing industry, and to the country's already established competitive advantage of being able to harness South Asia's most highly educated, literate and trained workforces. Thus, Sri Lanka has the potential for rapid development in the global electronics industry.

Why Sri Lankan Electrical & Electronic Products?