Entrepot traders seek regulated trade

Anjana SAMARASINGHE

REGULATION: The Sri Lanka Entrepot Traders' Association (SLETA) seeks a more regulated environment for the entrepot trade to develop the industry and to deliver more revenue to the Government.

President of SLETA Dr. Wimal Kalubowila told Daily News that the association is lobbying to regulate the industry through a gazette notification with the help of the Export Development Board.

"Some of the bigger companies are involved in entreport trade in hidden ways and earn a large amount of foreign exchange.

"These companies earn over USD 10 million per month and these companies do not declare their accounts and Government is losing a large amount of revenue.

"However there are no statistics of this trade due to the unavailability of data. Our main objective is to expose the industry to the country and bring all the traders to an official platform through this regulating process he said.

"The trade will gain nearly 100 percent growth next year because of the concessions granted for the trade through the recent budget.

"These concessions also help the industry to discover the hidden traders in the entrepot trade. Soon after the budget three traders inquired about membership of the SLETA, Kalubowila said.

"There is a good market potential for entrepot trade in Sri Lanka but many foreigners take advantages through this opportunity.

"Sri Lanka is now developing as a cargo hub and the proposed Hambantota port and Weeravila airport will be a huge boost for the entrepot industry.

"Around 200 ships pass Sri Lanka everyday and the Colombo Port could facilitate only a few ships.

But the proposed Hambantota port could facilitate a large number of ships.

This could minimise handling time and the trading time. Due to this, entrepot traders could offer competitive prices for their customers, Kalubowila said.

"However the local entrepot trade offers lower prices when compared with Dubai, he added.