NCE for sale of local products at BIA

CABINET PAPER: The National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE) welcomes the Cabinet Paper to do away with the prohibition of display and sale of local products at the Bandaranaike International Airport.

"The Chamber is of the view that the National Airport should be a window to the outside world for the country's exportable quality products, in addition to being a revenue source for the Government and a service to passengers.

Denial of such facility is unacceptable as it is completely opposed to the stated policy of the Government, to protect and nurture the indigenous enterprises.

Such enterprises should be given every assistance to compete on a level playing field in the world markets".

"It is important to note that at present our exporters participate in foreign trade fairs and exhibitions to make contact with new buyers, introduce new products and get a foothold in new markets, by incurring substantial expenses as participation cost.

Therefore provision of a facility to display their products at the BIA will enable many exporters, especially the SME's to achieve the same objective at a lesser cost."

The Chamber hails the initiative taken by Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Minister Rohitha Bogollagama to present a Cabinet Paper to redress affected total enterprises, the NCE said in a release.