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The mechanism of the Exporters' Forum was working out well as many issues presented by exporters have been resolved, said Minister of Enterprise Development, Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion Prof. G. L. Peiris. He was addressing exporters and private sector officials at the 13th Exporters Forum, last week at the DHPL Building, Nawam Mawatha, Colombo 2.

The Exporters' Forum was organised by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board. The Forum which was revived in February, 2002, after the United Front government took office was presented as many as 40 export related problems by exporters during the early stages. The 13th Exporters Forum was presented with 15 such problems of which four have been solved and steps are under way to solve another four soon.

That itself shows that the mechanism of the Exporters' Forum was working out well, the Minister said. The Minister thanked the officials who worked hard to obtain speedy solutions for the problems presented. The Minister said that all public officials from the institutions connected to the export sector must be present at the Exporters Forum in order to solve the problems of exporters.

The Sri Lanka Export Development Board organised the first Exporters Forum in 1982 and organised 48 bi-monthly Fora since 1991. The Exporters' Forum was abandoned due to various reasons after 1991. Taking into consideration the major contribution by the export sector to the National Economy the United Front government decided to revive the Exporters' Forum to provide speedy solutions to problems faced by exporters.

Some of the problems solved and are being resolved by the Exporters Forum are: Haycarb Ltd request to remove exports cess for Activated Carbon, Shiran Apparels Pvt. Ltd., reduction of monthly surcharge on electricity bills from 10% to 2%, ACL Cables Ltd request to reduce present Vat rate of 20% for cables to 10%, Lanka Hiqu Ltd., request to simplify cargo inspection procedures when the cargo is ready for shipment, Islandwide Suppliers (Pvt) Ltd request for the adjoining vacant land for expansion of the export industry in Modarawila Industrial Park, Borneo Exotics (Pvt) Ltd, request to grant resident visa for a maximum period for five years for foreign investors and Sri Lanka Coir and Allied Products Manufacturers' Association request to remove SLSI inspection when importing raw material for production of export goods.

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