Great potential for Sri Lankan exporters in the Americas

Saturday, 21 May 2011 00:19 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The time is now right for Sri Lankan exporters to go after new export business in the Americas, according to Bernard De Livera, President NATE Canada, a North America-based company which has been enabling and empowering exporters from developing countries to professionally export to the Americas for over 20 years.

“The US recession and the effects of the meltdown are behind us and it is now a brand new game that is being played out in the Americas,” he said.

De Livera, who is in Colombo at present, is actively working with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, several leading chambers and other agencies associated with the export sector to help Sri Lankan exporters successfully and sustainably penetrate the US and Canadian markets in particular.

According to him, the last available trade figures show that the US imported over US$ 2 trillion worth of products and services and Canada imported over US$ 425 billion worth of products and services. These are huge numbers judging from any standpoint, he said, asserting that there was no reason whatsoever for Sri Lankan exporters not to get far better access to these markets.

“The opportunities for Sri Lankan exporters in the USA, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean are simply staggering,” he claimed. In USA and Canada in particular purchases (imports) are done throughout the year as imports must be made for all four separate seasons, special holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween , etc. and religious events such as Christmas and special interests such as sports, hobbies and recreational activities.

According to him, the need of the hour is absolute professionalism: “The buyers and buying houses are highly-qualified and well-trained professionals. The exporters need to be tuned to approach, present and follow-up on a structured basis that is familiar to the buyers. If an exporter having a great product or service fails to work in tandem with established practices and processes in accordance with the preferences of the buyers, the rate of success and the cost of trying to capture new export business could be significantly high.”

During his visit De Livera will take up a limited number of consulting assignments. He is offering a free initial consultation and evaluation to a few exporters on a first-come basis. Details of the range of services provided by NATE Canada could be obtained from website www.export2theamericas.com.