Sri Lanka's Apex Organisation for Export Promotion
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Embassy in Japan has taken steps to promote identified Sri Lankan export products with high potential in the Japanese market for the next 3 years.
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) launched the first stage of its New Exporter Development Programme – Activities for 2021 by conducting an awareness workshop for entrepreneurs in Hambantota district at Hambantota District Secretariat Auditorium on 10th March. The first awareness workshop was conducted for selected 40 small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in the district with the objective of developing new exporters and creating awareness on opportunities in the export market.
The Sri Lanka Embassy in the Sultanate of Oman jointly with the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka (EDB) organised an introductory webinar on the ICT/BPM sector, in collaboration with Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) with the view to connecting Sri Lankan and Omani ICT/BPM sector companies.
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) organized an Export Marketplace (Product Pitching) programme coinciding with the International Women’s Day with the objective of enhancing the export market penetration ability of export-potential women entrepreneurs registered under “EDB Women Cell” on 8th March, 2021, at the Auditorium of Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute (HARTI).
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.
The Gulf region has built a strong brand identity in the Food and Beverage space. UAE is blessed with a strategic location between East and West which makes its accessible to major emerging economies, linking shipping routes in Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa. Gulfood Exhibition launched in 1987 and has currently become the World’s largest annual food and beverage trade show. The 2020 edition of the show has attracted more than 93,000 visitors & 5,000 exhibitors from 180 plus countries seeking business opportunities and exploring the latest F&B products and innovation.
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.
As per the Customs statistics, earnings from merchandise exports recorded a negative growth of 20.97% in November 2020 to US$ 747.58 Mn as compared to the value of US$ 978.80 Mn recorded in November 2019 due to the adverse impact of 2nd wave of Covid 19 pandemic within the country and globally. Reduction recorded in October exports due to the C19 outbreak in Sri Lanka which has had a direct impact on our manufacturing and export facilities also continued in November 2020.
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) last week successfully completed its 30 th capacity-development webinar session to the exporter community and SMEs. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic situation of the country, the EDB could not carry out its conventional capacity development programmes such as workshops and seminars, due to the health regulations imposed on people-gathering activities. As an alternative method, online sessions were conducted to enhance the capacity and knowledge of exporters and SMEs in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Association of Manufacturers and Exporters of Rubber Products (SLAMERP) and Plastic and Rubber Institute of Sri Lanka (PRISL) organized a two (2)-day virtual workshop on advanced technology and smart manufacturing to upgrade the knowledge of the industry on technological advancements in the global rubber industry by obtaining the services of local and international technical experts on 18th & 19th December, 2020. This was the third such workshop organized as a follow up to the past workshops in 2018 and 2019 on product Innovation, technology and R&D for the Sri Lankan tyre manufacturing industry.
Embassy of Sri Lanka in Turkey and the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) jointly organized a Webinar and Business Networking Session last week in collaboration with the Turkish Economic Relations Board (DEIK). More than 85 participants attended the webinar.
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.
Since the UK is the main market for Sri Lanka’s exports to the EU region and the second largest export market after the USA, it is important for Sri Lanka to receive the same tariff preferences it was enjoying prior to Brexit when trading with the UK in the post Brexit period.
As per the Customs statistics, earnings from merchandise exports recorded a negative growth of 14.9% in October 2020 to US$ 831.72 Mn as compared to the value of US$ 977.3 Mn recorded in October 2019. This poor performance is due to the adverse impact of 2nd wave of Covid 19 pandemic within the country and globally.
Due to the difficulties of organizing physical export promotion programmes during this pandemic situation, the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) in collaboration with Foreign Ministry and the Sri Lankan Missions overseas has initiated online sessions to enable foreign buyers and Sri Lankan exporters meet via virtual platforms with the objective of creating trade linkages between Sri Lanka and the rest of the world, as it is imperative to sustain the nation’s export promotional activities in spite of severe challenges caused by COVID-19.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on 6th November 2020 between the Sri Lanka Export Development Board and COFCO Womai Investment Co., Ltd to establish an online National Exhibition Hall to promote Sri Lanka’s export products in the www.womai.com e-commerce platform as a parallel activity to the Sri Lanka’s participation at the 3rd China International Import Expo (CIIE) 2020. CIIE 2020 will be held from 5th to 10th of November at the National Convention Center, Shanghai, China with the intention to expand the access to the Chinese market.
