Despite global and local challenges, Sri Lanka’s merchandised exports for the last three months have nearly achieved the $1 billion mark, proving its resilience and rebound.
“Provisional data shows that merchandise exports in August were $969 million,” Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman Prabhash Subasinghe said.
Sri Lanka’s National Export Strategy (NES).is fashioned with a vision to expand export product basket and markets, the strategy has been gradually implemented for nearly two years.
In this time of global crisis, it is imperative that the NES continues to be utilized as a springboard by policymakers and industry partners to guide export growth and recovery in a post-COVID-19 context.
A long-standing structural constraint of the country has been limited export diversification, accompanied by an over-reliance on buyers from developed countries; predominantly the US and EU.
Sri Lankans have managed and shown their resilience to the world with strong performance in country’s exports since April. Without serious interventions, businesses have done well.
Export is one sector that the Government is now seriously interested in because it helped the economy with much-needed foreign exchange,” EDB Chairman added.
Everyone must understand that the country only cater to two markets, which are the US and Europe,” Subasinghe added.
Sri Lanka’s single largest export market is the US, which accounts for 27% of total merchandise exports last year, while Europe accounts for 30%.
(LIN)