Friday Oct 03, 2025
Friday Oct 03, 2025
Friday, 3 October 2025 02:11 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
From left: Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe, Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Ministry Secretary Thilaka Jayasundara, Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Ministry Secretary K.A. Vimalenthirarajah, EDB Chairman/CEO Mangala Wijesinghe, and ADB Sri Lanka Resident Mission Country Director Takafumi Kadono
The Export Development Board (EDB) yesterday said that it was moving to finalising the National Export Development Plan (NEDP) 2025–2029 by November, with the aim of sharpening trade competitiveness, building stronger regional and global linkages, and positioning exports as a driver of sustainable growth even as US President Donald Trump is upending the world trade order.
The EDB, working with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has begun a series of nationwide consultations to shape the plan.
Eight focus group discussions and a technical committee meeting are scheduled for 2–10 October, covering areas from trade logistics to sectoral priorities. Regional and validation workshops are to follow, before the final framework is submitted later this year.
The urgency is palpable. A recent ADB report has said the impact of US tariffs will impact Sri Lanka’s growth, forecast to slowdown from 5% in 2024 to 3.9% this year and 3.3% in 2026. With Macro-Bonds likely to result additional debt payments up to $ 250 million annually, driving export growth is critical.
According to the Institute of Policy Studies in 2023, Sri Lanka’s goods and services exports made up nearly 20.4% of GDP, with manufacturing exports contributing 14%. However, the country’s merchandise export mix remains highly concentrated, with 77% of export income coming from industrial goods, mainly apparel, and just 22% from agricultural exports.
“This lack of sufficient diversification leaves Sri Lanka’s export economy vulnerable, heavily dependent on the apparel sector and traditional sectors like tea and rubber,” the IPS said.
According to the Advocata Institute, Sri Lanka’s lack of trade competitiveness is the result of policies and structural inefficiencies that have rendered the country uncompetitive. It noted that this fundamental issue was often misdiagnosed as a lack of targeting, leading to constant shifts in focus towards different sectors or products every three years without addressing the root causes of poor competitiveness.
According to the EDB, the new National Export Development Plan 2025-2029 builds on lessons from the National Export Strategy of 2018–2022, while addressing shifting global trade conditions and the country’s own post-crisis priorities.
“This initiative is central to positioning Sri Lanka as a competitive player in international markets,” Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Deputy Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe said at the inaugural session in Colombo yesterday.
EDB Chairman Mangala Wijesinghe told stakeholders that aligning national export priorities with industry realities and global market opportunities was critical to the plan’s success. ADB’s Country Director in Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono, stressed the importance of collaborative engagement to ensure the framework is both inclusive and actionable.
The Government has identified the NEDP as a key priority in the 2025 Budget, mandating the EDB to lead the process under the Policy-Based Lending program of the Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Ministry. Industry Secretary Thilaka Jayasundara said the consultations would help identify priority sectors, strengthen trade linkages, and address bottlenecks in the trade ecosystem.
“Once completed, the five-year plan will provide the roadmap for Sri Lanka’s export growth strategy, setting policy direction and implementation pathways at a time when the country is seeking to anchor its economic recovery on trade-led expansion,” the EDB said in a statement yesterday.
