New push to boost Lankan exports to Australia

From left: Sri Lanka and Australia Chamber of Commerce President Kalum De Silva, Australia Deputy High Commissioner Lalita Kapur, EDB Chairman Dr. Kingsley Bernard and Aboriginal Economic Development Group Victorian State Government Director Sara Stuart at the media briefing on Tuesday – Pic by Ruwan Walpola

• Sri Lanka-Australia Trade Chamber partners EDB to tap prospects in new product segments via week-long initiative for high-profile trade delegation from Australia

By Darshana Abayasingha

The Sri Lanka and Australia Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday unveiled a new initiative titled ‘A Journey of Exploration’ as it hopes to boost exports to the land down once again to AUD 1.5 billion and beyond.

The Chamber together with the Export Development Board (SLEDB) will host a high-profile trade delegation from Australia over the next few weeks, in what it hopes will be a captivating blend of exploration, cultural immersion and economic collaboration between the two countries.

The Australian delegation will include representatives from the Aboriginal Economic Development Group and other prominent business entities. The delegation will explore avenues in food, textiles and IT, plus, visits to the Port City to give the visitors a glimpse of Sri Lanka’s evolving infrastructure. The delegation comes in partnership with the Victoria State Government, and other local stakeholders include the National Chamber of Commerce, SLASSCOM, Port City, Hatch and Orion City.

Speaking to the Daily FT, Export Development Board Chairman, Kingsley Bernard, said: “Our exports are down about 10% year-on-year, so it is imperative we look at new strategies. There are two strategies to bridge this gap amongst others. One is to explore new markets, and the other one is to increase exports to existing markets where there is new potential. 

“We feel there is huge untapped potential in Australia, and we have invited this group from the indigenous community so we can take a certain percentage of exports to this segment, rather than continue to visit the highly established chains. This is a model we can explore on a global scale with different segments and we are also looking at Africa.”

The week-long sessions will feature a series of events and discussions on mutual expansion prospects, with a great deal of focus on the tech landscape.

Sri Lanka Australia Chamber of Commerce President Kalum De Silva said his association had paved the way to double trade between the two countries since its inception in 2015 to about AUD 1.5 billion. The pandemic got in the way of growth from 2020, but De Silva said he hopes these efforts will return Sri Lanka’s export figures to about AUD 1.5 billion by the end of the year.

“We set out to become a bridge for Australians who want to do business here, as there were no clear guidelines for that pathway and we were able to remedy that. We are once again trying to promote delegations to visit Sri Lanka, and we hope to reach pre-pandemic levels once again. Currently we are doing around AUD 1.3 billion annually, but there is scope for much more,” De Silva said.