FT agreements vital for export sector development

Vishmi WIJERATNE

To develop the export sector in Sri Lanka the country must start taking advantage of free trade (FT) agreements that Sri Lanka have already entered into.

Executive Director of Sri Lanka Policy Studies, Saman Kelegama expressed these views in his presentation at the 18th Annual General Meeting of National Chamber of Exports. He said that Sri Lanka’s export share in India is 5 % which is a value that surpasses the export share of a few of our large competitors.

“The export share of Pakistan to India is 0.7 % while China's is 1 %. We need to exploit this advantage and take maximum use of it. The way forward for the export industry in Sri Lanka is to mainly take maximum advantage from The Indo-Sri Lanka bilateral free trade agreement (ISLBFTA), Pakistan-Sri Lanka Bilateral Free Trade Agreement (PSLBFTA), South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), and Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), thus we would be able to penetrate these markets further,” he said.

The world is changing and growing, according to Kelegama the growing markets can be easily spotted as China, India, East Asia and Middle East.

To expand the export industry Sri lanka should recognize these countries as future markets and gain more advantage over those markets. According to Kelegama the expenditure for Research and Development(R&D) in Sri Lanka must be increased. The overall expenditure on R&D is 0.11 % of GDP and the private sector contribution is 18 %.

“We need to increase the private sector participation in R&D. Participation of the private sector towards R&D in most of the developed countries is around 65 %. The situation in Sri lanka must change,” he said.

However Kelegama said that the prospects for Sri Lankan exporters seems brighter this year as there is room for R&D and the latest MoU signed between the National Science Foundation and the National Chamber of Exporters will enable Sri Lanka to reach higher targets than before.

He said concluding his presentation that recognition for innovation of exporters was vital. This will help improving the product range of Sri Lankan exports.