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| Wednesday, 8 December 2004 |
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More opportunities for entrepot traders with MFA phase out - EDB Chairman by Ramani Kangaraarachchi The international trade of textiles and apparel would be opened on a competitive basis providing more opportunities for entrepot traders in Sri Lanka after the multi-fibre arrangement (MFA) comes to an end in December this year, said Chairman EDB R. Sivaratnam. He was addressing participants at a seminar on Entrepot Trade at the EDB auditorium in Colombo yesterday. He said that although local producers will face some challenges in this context, entrepot traders would get more expanded avenue for the trade. Apart from that a freer environment also could emerge in 2005 in the agricultural sector as well because liberalisation of the trade in this sector would have taken place. Sivaratnam said that countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE and the Netherlands have become major entrepot centres in the world and are able to export more than their respective Gross Domestic Production (GDP) and there is no doubt that large volumes of various merchandise products are available to our business as well in international markets. He said that as a small country the key to our future success lies in our ability to make the best use of our most important strength 'strategic location' as we don't have any of the advantages such as natural resources, industrial raw materials, large home market, well developed industrial skills and superior infrastructure which are needed to develop a country. He said that Sri Lanka has natural advantages over other countries in the region to develop as an entrepot trade centre of the region because it is located in the major shipping routes that link Europe and the Far East. The government has provided a substantial amount of resources to develop the Colombo seaport and airport and adopted an open sea and sky policies with the aim of encouraging more shipping and airlines to operate in Sri Lanka. Exchange and import/export controls have been removed to the maximum extent, providing a local commercial environment conducive to develop entrepot trade. The EDB when formulating national export development strategies for the period of 2004-2008 has given priority for development of entrepot trade and an advisory committee was appointed to identify the strategies and implement it to develop this sector, Sivaratnam said. |
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