SME’s account for $ 7 bn in exports

The Small and Medium Sector( SME) accounts for over seven billion dollars in exports and the first dedicated SME Industrial Estate that is being constructed in the North of Sri Lanka – Atchchuvely, is a strong spruce to the country, said Rohantha Athukorala, the Head of the National Portfolio Development( Sri Lanka & Maldives), United Nations Office(UNOPS) at the National Chamber of Commerce/ KPMG Conference on SME and Tax Implications.

The construction of the Atchchuweli Industrial Estate, funded by the Government of India in partnership with the Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development, is a 25 acre dedicated SME zone and is the first phase of the overall 65 acre land area. The project is managed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the construction began last month.

It would be ready for operations by September 2013, and the next step was beneficiary selection by the relevant stakeholders, he said.

“if we are to really support SME’s to make Sri Lanka exports once again turn positive, it would be by linking it to the support services such as EDB that organizes fairs and exhibitions around the world, targeting the SME manufacturers of Sri Lanka as well as the IDB, which provides sector specific technical support. If this was not done, we would not be able to connect the industrial estates across the country with the rest of the growth economy of Sri Lanka.” This was where the Chambers would have to play a facilitation role,” Athukorala said.

The overall Sri Lanka exports had declined by 7.8% in 2012 and in January this year, the numbers had once again declined by almost twenty percent which would add pressure to the trade balance of 2013.

The Small and Medium Sector( SME’s) contribute to over seventy percent to the country’s export agenda. One of the key questions asked at the event had been the fall out of the GSP+ and the implications to the SME sector to which the speaker cited that the Bangladesh Export Strategy must be modeled as way back in 1990.

“Lanka and Bangladesh were at around 2 billion in exports revenue, but today, the latter is touching $24 billion, whilst Sri Lanka is yet below the ten billion dollar mark.

The development of SME via the industrial zone development agenda, could correct this,” Athukorala said .