ITC backs focus on export-led job creation

• Praises Govt. efforts to support exports with national policies and trade info. portal 
• Says trade progress should be translated into new employment generation 
• Calls on Govt. to showcase local brands in global markets 
• Address bottlenecks slowing down export progress    

 The International Trade Centre (ITC) has called on the Government to translate its export push to new employment generation, pointing out that this would be a medium- to long-term effort that will require political management, the Industry and Commerce Ministry said in a statement yesterday.     

“There is clear progress in the management of Sri Lanka’s international trade. We at the International Trade Centre are pleased. The glass is half-full for Sri Lanka’s trade and you need to fill the rest,” advised Geneva International Trade Centre (ITC)’s Executive Director Arancha González during a visit to Colombo. 

Gonzales called on Sri Lanka to start leveraging this progress immediately, noting that progress in trade should be translated into new employment generation. Since the impact of structural reforms was medium- to long-term, transferring trade development into more and better paying jobs is also a medium- to long-term transformation and therefore this needed to be managed politically, she observed. 

“Sri Lanka’s immediate strategy should be to showcase what is working. Therefore there needs to be immediate visibility for Sri Lanka’s winning brands in global markets. This means Sri Lanka should next look at where attention is not (sufficiently) paid in its trade, and should swiftly move to address them.”

The Government has called on the International Trade Centre (ITC) to support Sri Lanka’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as part of its efforts to improve exports by linking greater funding access to the National Export Strategy and Sri Lanka Trade Information Portal (SLTIP) that was launched recently.   Minister Bathiudeen thanked ITC for its role in Sri Lanka’s trade reform initiatives and noted that continuous collaboration between donors and development partners was key to maximise the benefits of technical assistance in Sri Lanka. 

“In this context I would like to welcome ITC’s offer to further support our TIP in the coming years. This complements the World Bank’s efforts and also ensures the sustainability of the large-scale trade reforms by our Unity Government. We have a registered SME base of more than one million. When adding the unregistered SME numbers, it translates into an even larger base of economic activity. These SMEs play a considerable role in our domestic consumer market, supply and even value chains. As the Minister in charge of our SMEs, I believe that the time has come to integrate this sector into our exports and make these brands visible globally. Today I call upon ITC to extend its support to our ongoing efforts to link SMEs to global chains.”