Sri Lanka Electronic Manufacturers and Exporters Association holds AGM

Wednesday, 7 August 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

From left: Melani Rajakaruna, Toss Lanka, Chandana Dissanayaka GPV Lanka, Shayne Madappulli Lanka Hiqu, State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne, Merrick Gooneratne Toss Lanka, Manjulal Waas Zone 24x7, Prof. Kithsiri Liyanage University of Peradeniya, Nadie Kahatapitiya Algama KIK Lanka

Sri Lanka Electronic Manufacturers and Exporters Association (SLEMEA) hosted its 21st Annual General Meeting on 25 July at the Ramada Colombo.

State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne graced the event as the chief guest. The minister iterated the importance of facilitating and promoting the national Electrical and Electronics sector for Sri Lanka to realise exponential growth in export revenue.

Associations’ outgoing president Chandana Dissanayake, Operations Director at GPV Lanka highlighted the past year’s achievements of the association in shaping national policy; in particular the reduction of PAL from 7% to 2.5% and gearing the sector to realise the 17% export growth.

The incoming president Manjulal Waas, Senior Manager at Zone 24x7 assured that SLEMEA will play a pivotal role in facilitating growth of the sector. Prominence was placed on promoting a culture of research and development in the sector, starting with the 17 recognised companies currently engaged in R&D.

Ironing out industry-wide obstacles that currently prevents the industry’s 80+ companies from delivering the most efficient outcomes is also a primary objective of existence of the organisation and the association will continue to be the facilitator to work towards eliminating such obstacles and friction.

Export Development Board Assistant Director of Export Services Akila de Zoysa outlined the government support schemes available for the industry alongside the ongoing state efforts to uplift the industry’s R&D ecosystem. With Sri Lanka ranked 89th in the Global Innovation Index (2019), the dire need for sector-focused Start-up Accelerators to boost an innovation culture was gravely recognised.

Potential synergies through inter-industry collaborations with the energy sector was addressed by the guest speaker, Prof. Kithsiri Liyanage, senior professor, Department of Electric and Electronic Engineering, University of Peradeniya.

The evening was a special one for the industry with the founding members of SLEMEA; Tisil Cooray Managing Director IE Technics, Merrick Gooneratne Executive Director Toss Lanka and Lalith Madappulli CEO Lanka Hiqu among many others coming together to celebrate another year of successful progression of the industry association.