Rise in exports to Europe

Records US $ 2635 m upto September:

Sri Lanka’s exports to the European Union (EU) grew by 25.5% in the first nine months of 2011 (2635 $ million), compared to the corresponding period of 2010 (2100 $ million). Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the EU, Ravinatha Aryasinha said according to the latest statistics from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka these growth rates are particularly impressive given the fact that the after effects of the financial crisis, high unemployment in developed economies and austerity measures in Europe continue to shrink the possibility of bouncing back world trade to its pre-crisis levels.

With respect to Belgium, which is the fourth largest destination among EU countries and the sixth largest destination of Sri Lanka’s exports to the world, exports grew by 41.4 % in the first nine months of 2011 (382.53 $ million), compared to the corresponding period of 2010 (270.6 $ million)”.

He said also reflects trade conducted without the benefit of the special preferential tariff concession GSP+”.

Ambassador Aryasinha made these observations when he delivered the keynote address at a seminar ‘Doing Business in Sri Lanka’ organized by Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT) to coincide with the visit of a business delegation from the European Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (ECCSL), held in Brussels.

The Ambassador said he saw the visit of the ECCSL delegation comprising Sri Lankan business leaders and officials of the Chamber, as a continuum to the visit of the business delegation led by Industries and Commerce Minister Rishard Bathiudeen the previous week, and that within a fortnight over a hundred Belgian companies had made contact with Sri Lankan business leaders.

Acknowledging that the trade balance was very much in Sri Lanka’s favour, he noted that nevertheless according to the Central Bank, Sri Lanka’s imports from the EU have also grown by 20.2% in the first nine months of 2011 (1365 Million $), compared to the corresponding period of 2010 (1136 Million $). Imports from Belgium, which is Sri Lanka’s 16th supplier, and the 4th largest among EU countries, grew by 52.3% in the first nine months of 2011 (292.06 Million $), compared to the corresponding period of 2010 (191.79 Million $).

European investments in Sri Lanka in the first half of 2011 amounted to 52 million $, which was 13% of the total FDI attracted by the country.

Of this, Belgium was the second largest source of investment among EU member countries, recording investment amounting to 11.28$ million.

Ambassador Aryasinha also outlined the considerable opportunities and incentives provided for foreign enterprises to invest and do business with Sri Lanka in recent years, most recently through the 2012 budget.