Sri Lanka's Fish Export up by 20% in 2014 1Q

news.lk - 19/06/2014

Fish and fishery product sector plays an important role in Sri Lanka’s Social and economic life.  The Sector contributes about 2.7% to country’s GDP.  End of the civil unrest detained three decades in the country, fisheries sector has a significant scope to increase the level of contribution through exploiting high seas for tuna fishing & value addition.

Sri Lanka’s main fishery export products include tuna, fresh chilled and frozen form, shrimps & prawns, crabs and lobsters.  Other than the above shark fins, fish maws, beche-de-mer, cuttle fish & squid, sprats are also exports mostly to the Asian markets.  United Kingdom is the main market for Sri Lankan tuna followed by France, Italy, Netherlands, Germany etc.

During the last four years Sri Lanka has been gradually increasing its share in the international market.  Accordingly  fish exports during the first quarter of 2014 has shown an increase of 20% thereby  earning foreign exchange of Dollars 95.68 or Rs 12,384 Million (Billions 12.384).

During the first quarter of the year 2010, the income of fish export had been Rs. 5,710 million and in the year 2011, it has got increased to Rs.6,850 million. Similarly, in the first quarter of 2012, the income from fish export had been Rs.9,009 Million and during the first quarter of 2013, it had increased up to Rs.10,187 Million.

Similarly, during the last three years, the annual fish export had got increased systematically. That is during the year 2011, the income derived from fish export had been Rs.21,876 Million. In the year 2012 this amount had got increased up to Rs.26,363 million and during the year 2013, it had got increased to Rs. 31,792 Million.

The Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development, Dr.Rajitha Senaratne has taken further steps to improve this position and it is expected to earn Rs. 40,000 Million by end of year 2015. By improving this position further, by year 2016, it is planned to earn Rs.50,000 Million which will get recorded in history, as the highest income, ever recorded.

Similarly the daily fish consumption per head had been increased from 30 grams up to 41.5 grams. We have a target of increasing this by the end of 2014 up to 50 grams and by the end of 201, up to 60 grams. By winning this target, ourselves and our country would be able to eradicate malnutrition completely, said Minister Senarathna. On the above basis we have played our role on behalf of President Mahinda Rajapaksa by earning a large amount of foreign exchange, added the Minister.

SL apparel industry in a global context and future fortunes

Daily Mirror - 17/06/2014
By Dr. Arosha Fernando

The Sri Lankan apparel trade today is well renowned around the world to be the most cutting-edge and innovative when it comes to apparel manufacturing.

With a very long history of manufacturing in the island and throughout the challenges which this industry has faced to this day, the garment manufacturing  stands much stronger than it has been ever before where the exports from this industry within a year increased by 11 percent (which was the biggest increase annually in 2013 compared with initial years) and by end November 2013 the exports earnings from this industry in Sri Lanka stood at US $2.876 billion, which is a substantial amount of foreign exchange bought into the country by a single industry.

Comparatively compared with our competing countries in this trade which are China, India, Bangladesh and upcoming countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia our apparel industry is quite small. However due to the fact with the change of times and economies as China is now considered as a much developed  country compared to 20 years back, China now has a feel to move into more high-end industries such as IT, pharmaceuticals, auto industry, science etc.

Accordingly the costs of production through the times now have increased dramatically and for China right now and for the future moving into more high-end industries would be much more beneficial for them to sustain their fast growing GDP and the remaining apparel manufactures due to the better economic position where the Chinese population have better disposable income and with a high population (bigger internal market) have focused to cater to their own home market rather than exports. India follows the same suite as China.

Sri Lanka has always held the belt for upholding commitments, quality and needle work of products, compliant and state of the art manufacturing practices, with professional and skilled work force and finally now a safe and stable environment for any global retailer to have a strong footing to set up offices and work closely with the apparel manufactures to export the best quality on a ethical and compliant platform which Sri Lanka apparel trade has held continuously by giving the global retailers the brand protection which now is the key in this business for them.


Changing fortunes of competitors
Although the costs would be lower in the short term, in the long term our competitors such as Bangladesh which has proven to be expensive due to under performances and quality issues and with under compliances and unethical terms of trade the brands have been much tarnished for working in Bangladesh due to heavy media follow up after the recent mentioned fires which killed hundreds of workers, hence now for global customers to protect their branding and business in the long run are seeing as a key safe heaven to set up strong commitments with manufactures as from the inception to the boom of the apparel industry.

Bangladesh can be considered as Sri Lanka’s main competitor in apparel and as the only source of foreign exchange for Bangladesh with vast amounts of labor, low cost, vertical supply chains and plus GSP has been a very challenging fore for the Sri Lankan apparel industry. Bangladesh has much benefit and initially by global apparel chains saw Bangladesh as a gold mine to boost better profitability by taking advantage of their low production costs.

However due to current serious and critical issues in Bangladesh such as recent fires in factories which killed hundreds of workers, commitments towards performance, quality, compliance and the general break down of basic apparel practices towards the work force, and due to this lot of the main global retailers are now shying away from Bangladesh and moving towards Sri Lanka.


Sri Lanka better positioned
Our apparel industry is strongly committed to ethical manufacture and sustainable development assuring the industry’s commitment to ethical working conditions, free of child labour, free of forced labour, free of discrimination and free of sweatshop practices. Further, our apparel industry’s efforts to provide employment and harness the rural talents of the country by setting up factories across Sri Lanka under the Rural Empowerment Concept has made a significant impact to our economy which has been recognized and acknowledged by the global apparel chains.

Thus China, India coming out of garment exports and Vietnam, Cambodia being quite new into the trade and Bangladesh apparel trade facing critical issues and concerns, the key country now to meet their requirements on the platforms which they require is Sri Lanka. Accordingly now Sri Lanka is in an ideal position to aggressively take advantage of this fact that now as good capacity becomes increasingly short and with the amount of global apparel business, global customers will be compelled to pay premium prices for Sri Lankan apparel capacities.

By this change in the apparel environment, Sri Lanka apparel industry can do further to give more employment and higher foreign exchange to the country and sealing a place on the apparel map for the years to come.


Noteworthy local contributions
Another significant contribution made by leading apparel export companies such as Tristar Apparel Group by setting up factories for rehabilitated ex-terrorist after the 30 decade conflict in Sri Lanka where the conflict claimed thousands of innocent lives and bought unimaginable suffering to the lives of innocent Sri Lankan’s who were living in the Northern part of the country.

It was a very much natural feeling for Tri Star Apparel Group who have been in the business for over 30 decades and where the company initiated ‘The Town to Village’ concept and to support the government’s commitment by setting up such investments in the war torn area of Thambalagamuwa in Trincomalee district and to give employment to over 700 people from that area where their lives and their families had been effected from the conflict.
Today the unit has a well known reputation for exporting 100  new born wear to the UK market exclusive manufacture for selected UK retailers. This is a great achievement by the work force and commitment and support given by the government to be a leading export unit within such a short period of time and to create employment for hundreds of innocent people in that affected area and in turn those supporting hundreds of families.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the business community of Sri Lanka should focus more and work towards expanding the apparel industry to a different height in light of the current developments in the global context along with our existing position in the global map by taking the advantage to become the number 1 foreign revenue generator to Sri Lanka by overtaking of foreign employment sector which stands first at the moment.

(Dr. Arosha Fernando has a distinctive professional background covering 20 years in management. Currently Dr. Arosha is the Chairman of Verazo Apparel Exports Pvt Ltd.  Dr. Arosha is a renowned scholar, holding five University Degrees from Australia’s 2 leading Universities. He holds a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from the Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship (AGSE) at Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia and a Bachelor of Business (B.Bus.) Degree, double major in Marketing and Human Resource Management from the Faculty of Business at the same University)

Sri Lankas' Participation at SIAL - 2014

Sri  Lanka  Export  Development  Board  in  collaboration  with  the  Consulate  General  Office  in Toronto, Canada organized the Sri Lanka’s participation at SIAL Canada 2014. . Five Sri Lankan food &  Beverages exporting companies participated in the programme.

• Ceylon Biscuits Ltd.
• Consolidated   Business   Systems (Pvt.) Ltd. 
• HJS Condiments Ltd. 
• Wichy  Plantation  Company  (Pvt) Ltd  
• Tea Talk (Pvt) Ltd.
• Food & Nature (Pvt.) Ltd. (observer) 

The total value of the confirmed orders exceeded 400,000 US Dollars as at  31st  May 2014.

Canada, Morocco, USA, New Zealand, Algeria confirmed their orders on following products,

• Biscuits
• Virgin Oil
• Fruit Juice
• Coconut Milk
• Virgin Coconut Oil
• Tea
• Cinnamon and Other Spices

List of countries having orders under Negotiation

• Guyana
• USA
• Canada
• Morocco
• Germany
• Mexico
• China

Basilur Tea Canada, allied to its Sri Lankan firm Basilur Tea, has clinched the top award in SIAL Canada 2014.  Basilur's  herbal  tea  product  "Fruit  Infusions"  received  the  highest  award  called 2014  Top  -10  Product  Award  at  SIAL  Canada.  This  is  considered  by  many  food  industry specialists as a Very rare achievement since Basilur has reached the TOP 10 twice within last three years. 

Basilur Tea is one of the many products that we promote in Canada and it is one of our flagship products and ranked among many of our success stories in Canada.  

Rishad leading strong biz delegation to Kunming kick-off

Asian Tribune - 07/06/2014

Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka addresses the seventh China - South Asia Business Forum (CSABF) held at the Convention Centre of Kunming City in Yunnan Province, China, in 2012 June.

As bilateral trade with China crossed $ 3 Bn, one of the biggest ever trade and business delegations from Sri Lanka is flying to grace the 22nd Kunming international Fair in China which kicks off tomorrow June 06.

“Sri Lanka has been taking part in this event when it was held for the first time in Beijing in 2007. With one of the biggest EDB supported delegations, we are hopeful of good results this year as well” said an upbeat Rishad Bathiudeen (Minister of Industry and Commerce) on the eve of 04 June.

Minister Bathiudeen was speaking to his top officials prior to his departure on the eve 04 June to take part in the second China–South Asia Expo and 22nd Kunming Fair held in Kunming, China. In this tour, the EDB functioning under Minister Bathiudeen is facilitating no less than 118 Lankan business reps –one of the biggest B2B delegations to Kunming from Sri Lanka-who are joining Minister Bathiudeen and his team of five other officials.

The Kunming Fair has become one of the four top annual events (such as the Canton Fair) in China’s trade calendar. Due to its high prominence in the trillion dollar GDP nation, the Kunming Fair has become the second biggest annual fair in the South West China region. Sri Lanka has consistently been one of the strongest South Asian participants at this expo.

The 118 companies and businesses facilitated by EDB represent such diverse product and service sectors as tea, gem and jewelry, arts, crafts and handicrafts, coconut fiber, ayurvedic and herbal products, and even gem cutting and polishing. Sources from Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) said that 22 business reps from the Chamber representing such firms as Asian Promoters, Rainbow Travels and Tours, Christ Gems and Jewellers, Senira Lanka, are headed to Kunming at the second China–South Asia Expo and 22nd Kunming Fair which will commence tomorrow 06 June and will end on 10 June. The fair is jointly hosted by China’s Ministry of Commerce, the Governments of Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Guangxi and Tibet, and Chengdu Municipal (People’s) Government.

The total trade turnover between China and South Asia rose to $ 92 Bn in 2012. According to the Department of Commerce, China’s trade with Sri Lanka stood at US $ 3,084.22 Mn ($ 3 Bn) in 2013.

International Education Fair 2014 Malé A Promotion of Sri Lankan Education in Maldives

Sunday Times - 07/06/2014

“International Education Fair 2014”; an annual education promotion programme will be held on 13th& 14th June at the Art Gallery - Malé. This s being organized for the fourth consecutive time and this time it is being organized as a national event by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) in collaboration with the Sri Lanka High Commission in Maldives and Millennium Concepts –Maldives. AOD – The International Design Campus – Sri Lanka joins hands with them as the Gold Sponsor.
This promotional programme mainly includes the “Study in Sri Lanka” concept and these two day exhibition will be followed by few Networking meetings with the Ministry of Education Malé.


The Maldivian Government encourages deserving Maldivian students to pursue higher studies overseas by granting education funding. There is also a constant growing demand among the youth to study overseas. There were 1,000 Scholarships which have been announced by the President in March 2014.   Promoting study opportunities, raising awareness of the company profile or generating sales leads can be achieved by participating in this event.

Millennium Concepts managed by Mr. Suresh Kumar Thirugnanasampanthar, an MBA graduate from United Kingdom is a young, potent and dynamic growing company,Singapore based education consulting firm having their liaison offices in Male, Colombo and East Africa. They have been working with leading Universities in Singapore, Malaysia, UK, Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand during the past 7 years since our incorporation in 2006. Millennium Concepts initiated this Education Fair Malé and successfully conducted 3 major exhibitions since 2012. The 4th Exhibition which is to be held on 13th& 14th June has been endeavored by the EDB as a national event.


More than 20 educational institutes based in Sri Lanka, and other institutes from Maldives, Singapore, UK and Australia will be participating in this programme to offer educational services to Maldivian students.  


The Millennium Concept and EDB work closely with the Ministry of Education, High Schools and teachers/referral network to reach out to the potential students in Male and Addu which is the second promising city in the south.  The event will be hosted at National Art Gallery Hall located in the heart of Male that is a marvel icon.  The event opening will be inaugurated by the Minister of Education  Malé and many other VIP’s which would get pre and post event publicity at media such as Haveeru, VTV & MNBC.  

EDB PAVILION AT FACETS SRI LANKA 2014

edirectory.lk 

An ideal opportunity for SMEs
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) will be organizing a special pavilion at FACETS SRI LANKA – International Gem & Jewellery Show 2014 to be held at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Center from 04th to 07th September 2014.

Objective
The objective of organizing this special pavilion is to give an opportunity for the SME Gem & Jewellery manufacturers to showcase their products and make use of the event as a platform for them to enter into the international market.

For whom
Small & Medium scale exporters / potential exporters manufacturing gold, silver and fashion jewellery.

Selection & Assistance
The EDB intends selecting 15-20 Small & Medium scale exporters / potential exporters manufacturing gold, silver and fashion jewellery to participate at the above show. The participants will be selected by an interview panel appointed by EDB.

Selected SMEs will be provided with space and display facilities by the EDB

Commitment by the participants
Selected SMEs will have to meet the full cost of production of sample jewellery collection under the guidance of the EDB.

Application procedure
Applications should be made on the prescribed form available at the Industrial Products Division of Sri Lanka Export Development Board, 6th Floor or the Provincial office of the EDB. The applications could also be downloaded from the EDB website www.srilankabusiness.com.

Duly completed application forms should be sent under registered post to reach the Director, Industrial Products, Sri Lanka Export Development Board, NDB/EDB Tower, No: 42, Navam Mawatha, Colombo 2, on or before 9th June 2014.
For further details please contact Mr. Harsha Pathberiya, Deputy Director Tel: 011-3135741 or 011-2300705 – 11 Ext. 354. Fax 011-2303025, Email: hdp [at] edb [dot] tradenetsl [dot] lk.

Rise in coconut product exports

Daily News - 03/06/2014

Sri Lanka’s coconut related exports increased by 86 percent during the first quarter of this year compared to 2011, Coconut Development and Janatha Estate Development Ministry sources said yesterday.

The Coconut Development and Janatha Estate Development Ministry was established in 2011 as a new Cabinet ministry. According to ministry statistics, during the first quarter of this year, Sri Lanka earned over Rs. 5,090 million from coconut related products, an 88 percent increase from the same period in 2011.

In the first quarter of 2011 it was Rs. 2,115 million. It increased annually and the total coconut related products export revenue in 2013 stood at Rs. 44,952 million. Sri Lanka exports 35 coconut related products to 135 countries.

The revenue from desiccated coconut exports increased by 306 percent, coconut cream and coconut milk exports increased by 220

percent and 100 percent in January this year compared to January last year, the statistics stated.

Meanwhile, ministry sources said king coconut exports also increased dramatically this year.

However, according to the sources, coconut based substrates were exported in the form of grow bags, coir pith bales, coir bulk forms, coir pots, husk chips and coir peat for which a great demand exists in the international market.

Substrates are exported as inputs in cultivation activities which are in demand in Canada, America, Eastern and Western Europe, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Russia and West Asia.