Ministry moots Industrial Forum
Begins pre-budget consultations:
Sri Lanka is mooting an Industrial Forum on the style of recently
revived Exporters’ Forum.
“We are now planning an Industrial Forum to facilitate issues faced
by our industries. I will also announce more details on the
pharmaceutical manufacturing zone in due course, Industry and Commerce
Minister Rishad Bathiudeen said.
Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen with Ministry
Additional Secretary Asitha Seneviratne and Secretary Tilak
Collure listen as a participant highlights an industry issue.
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Minister Bathiudeen was addressing the 2012 Pre-budget Consultation
Forum for representatives from various business Chambers and
Federations, private sector industry and Advisory Committee
representatives at the auditorium of the Ministry of Industry and
Commerce last week.
The industrial forum will function as an entry point for the higher
level Exporters’ Forum. “Once it’s established, it may become the
preliminary round before the Exporters’ Forum,” Additional Secretary
Asitha Seneviratne said.
The October 21 pre-budget consultation was an initial round aimed at
2012 budget and focused on various industry-specific issues.
The issues are, among others, the need for minimum (for domestic) and
maximum (for expatriate) wage structures for industries in the country,
SME issues (the availability of loans and other banking facilities for
the country’s SMEs and TIEP- Temporary Importation for Export Processing
Scheme related issues), packaging (raw material import related),
chemical industry (clarification of chemical sector-water based raw
material imports), boating industry (the emerging second hand boat
market), spice industry (requirements and current issues), food industry
(labelling, legal and regulatory clarity in rules pertaining to local
food industries), rubber industry (labour and holiday issues), shipping
(issues in LCL cargo clearing), and pharmaceutical manufacturing (need
for level playing field in local pharmaceutical manufacturing).
Minister Bathiudeen said he will, in the due course, provide more
details on the forthcoming pharmaceutical manufacturing zone to be
established in Kurunegala.
On October 21, on a proposal made by Minister Bathiudeen, the Cabinet
approved a Dedicated Industrial Zone for manufacturing of pharmaceutical
products, to be established in Kurunegala on a 48 acre block of land
identified to promote the local pharmaceutical industry.
A buyback agreement facility (with the Ministry of Health) for the
zone’s manufacturers is also on the cards.
Sri Lanka currently has nine pharmaceutical manufacturers (eight Sri
Lankan owned and one multinational) serving the US $ 40 billion market,
40% of which is handled by the State Pharmaceutical Corporation.
The market is highly competitive, with close to 300 foreign
pharmaceutical manufacturers’ products (in addition to local
manufacturers’) being sold islandwide. |