Dhammika Fernando re-elected Chairman of Free Trade Zone Manufacturers’ Association

Dhammika Fernando

Tropical Findings Ltd., Dhammika Fernando was re-elected as the Chairman of the Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association (FTZMA) at the 43rd Annual General Meeting held at “Courtyard by Marriott Colombo” on 28 March 2024.

Flintec Transducers Ltd., Managing Director Tyronne Weckasinghe was elected as the Honorary Secretary of the FTZMA, Lalan Rubber Ltd. CEO Manjula Mahadanaarachchi was elected as the Honorary Treasurer while ATG Ceylon Ltd. Managing Director Fazal Abdeen and Screenline Holdings Managing Director Nishantha Bakmeege as Vice Chairmen. The rest of the Executive Committee was elected through a distinguished gathering of C-suite executives of all Board of Investment member enterprises countrywide.

Malaysian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Badli Hisham Adam was the Chief Guest at the AGM while BOI Director General Renuka Weerakoon was the Guest of Honour.

FTZMA is the leading Association representing the foreign direct investors of all the export processing zones in Sri Lanka. Since it commenced its operation from Katunayake Free Trade Zone over 40 years ago, the Association has been representing the foreign direct investments, expanding their presence to all Free Trade Zones and outside the BOI zones in Sri Lanka. The uniqueness of FTZMA is that it represents all trades including the apparel industry. 

In his statement after being re-elected Fernando said, “By no means we shall underestimate the current predicament of exporters. So far there had not been safe sailing for businesses, meaning that we are not totally out of the doldrums and not at all the business-as-usual environment set in.

2023 was an incredibly tough year, we have experienced quite a number of challenges faced by our members and BOI companies due to recessive trends globally, compounded by the crippling local financial crisis. The looming economic slowdown in Europe and the USA, our major export destinations, poses a severe threat to our exports. In addition, the increase in corporate and personal taxes, unfavourable forex rates, and the abnormal increase in the cost of commodities, particularly energy, have caused our production costs to skyrocket, eroding our global competitiveness.

As a result, our export figures have taken a hit, and many major industrial exporters are downsizing, shutting down operations, or relocating. The SME sector has been particularly hard-hit, with the withdrawal of loan moratoriums and the contraction of large-scale enterprises having a cascading effect.

Association always ensured that all BOI enterprises were maintaining a sustainable business and being resilient especially during the economic crisis by minimising their exposure to risks and finding new ways in which they can maintain the sustainability of their business. The crisis which prevailed in the 1st half of the year had challenged many organisations; however we were able to find solutions ensuring the continuous operation of the companies by taking collective decisions with officials of the BOI and all other stakeholders.

Our relationship with BOI over the past years influenced us to overcome new challenges and leverage complementary assets to address Investors’ problems. As a result, FTZMA has become a member of the Industry Advisory Council of BOI.

Besides with BOI, we maintain cordial relationships with other statutory bodies such as Customs, Central Bank, Ports authority, Airport and non-State sector organisations as well. We are grateful for the services provided by BOI to our members and also other Government agencies and ministries, including the Ministry of Labour, EDB, Customs, Ports and Airport authorities, and the apparel apex body JAAF, for their invaluable support. We also value the cooperation of EFC, CCC, NCC, NGJA, SLSC and all other sister trade chambers and our affiliated associations.

I would like to express my gratitude to the member enterprises, who are the strength of our association, for their steadfast support, and to the Executive Committee colleagues and our dynamic Chairman for their unwavering dedication. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of our secretariat staff for their exceptional efforts in supporting the increase of membership and the smooth functioning of our office. 

FTZMA strongly believes that our country will be able recover from the current difficult economic situation faced by our members and if the Government would formulate investor friendly policies and take action in the right direction to foster the socio-economic progress of Sri Lanka and will bring back confidence of all investors,” and the Association ensures that continuous and smooth operation of the activities and most importantly sustain the industry by satisfying the investor. Issues brought up by members are being dealt with efficiently by creating a conducive environment with officials of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka and all stakeholders. 

The Platinum Sponsors of the FTZMA AGM were Codgen International Ltd., National Development Bank and member investor Trinity Steel. Silver Sponsors were Manferd Engineering, George Steuart Insurance Brokers and Bronze Sponsors were Commercial Bank and Nation Trust Bank.