New NCE President and team call on Finance Minister

New NCE President Ramal Jasinghe, Secretary General Shiham Marikar and other relevant officials called on Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake to brief him on the activities of the Chamber for the current year and to discuss other export-related issues of relevance in the current context. 

The Minister was updated on the current activities related to the key role played by the NCE to support Sri Lankan exporters and the overreaching activities of the Chamber this year extended to provincial enterprises with export potential, particularly SMEs, with the objective of increasing the number of entrepreneurs and export enterprises to diversify products and services exported from Sri Lanka. 

The Chamber also discussed the following export-related issues:

The importance of branding Sri Lanka in the international marketplace as in the case of Taiwan and Japan related to information Technology and hi-tech products. The active role played by the Chamber in the Steering Committee set up for this purpose by bringing on board the Universities of Sri Jayawardenepura and Kelaniya as well as the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing related to their expertise in the field of marketing was noted. This group, which is based on the think tank concept and headed by Dr. Ravi Dissanayake, will be part of all future branding activities.

In regard to export financing, the active role played by the Chamber in promoting the setting up of an EXIM Bank as proposed in the last budget was noted. The support of the Bank for Export Oriented Enterprises to provide assistance for Capital Investment in critical machinery and equipment to expand production capacity and working capital funding to process export orders, especially by SMEs, was expected. Minister Karunanayake was requested to fast-track the implementation process of the bank. 

The Chamber conveyed the request of its member companies to continue the SVAT System until such time the necessary legislation is in place to implement the proposed Revenue Administration and Management Information System (RAMIS) which will enable the conduct of export transactions online. 

Minister Karunanayake was also briefed on the difficulties faced by member exporters in finding skilled labour and the need to establish a Skills Development Fund to support the activities undertaken by private sector enterprises in the field of skills development.  

In regard to insurance coverage for the Floriculture and Horticulture sectors, the Chamber brought to the notice of the Minister the lack of insurance cover for structures including greenhouses and planting material which are affected during adverse weather conditions. Since some entrepreneurs are moving out of the sector due to the high risk, the Chamber requested that arrangements be made to provide suitable insurance cover to mitigate the risk. 

The Minister was further briefed that the Chamber will conduct several forums and discussions with member exporters to identify both macro issues and other operational issues faced by them to develop exports which will be sent to the Ministry of Finance as proposals for consideration to be included in the next National Budget. 

The plan of the Chamber to conduct a forum during June to discuss bottlenecks related to the implementation of the previous budget proposals, specifically related to international trade and exports, was briefly discussed and Minister Karunanayake was invited to address the members.