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Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka Rishad Bathiudeen (right) discusses latest proposals on exports with his Ministry Secretary S.S. Miyanawala on the eve of 29 January
The latest measures relating to exports introduced by Thursday’s interim-budget are praiseworthy and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce pledges fullest support to the proposed Business Facilitation Networking Unit (BFNU) in it, as stressed on 29 January. “On behalf of our exporters, I commend the present efforts of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera to regain our GSP+ facility and re-start the closed garment factories. My Ministry of Industry and Commerce and I are ready to extend our fullest support to the new BFNU,” said Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen on 29 January evening. Minister Bathiudeen was discussing with his top officials and advisors on the eve of 29 January about the Government’s interim-budget presented on the same day. “We strongly praise the Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake for this wide-ranging budget proposals that help our industry and commerce sectors,” said Minister Bathiudeen and added: “On behalf of our exporters, I commend the present efforts of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera to regain our GSP+ facility and re-start the closed garment factories as a result of GSP+ withdrawal. I have been informed that our trade with EU in 2013 was close to $ 5 billion and this could have been much more if we had GSP+! “I also praise their measures to get the EU fish ban removed and resume fish exports to the EU. I am pleased that both the Department of Commerce and Registrar of Companies under my Ministry are stakeholders in the proposed Business Facilitation Networking Unit which is a timely and welcome step to make our investment process credible and transparent. My Ministry of Industry and Commerce and I are ready to extend our fullest support to this new Unit.” The EU suspended the GSP+ concessions to Sri Lanka in August 2010. GSP+ provided tariff concessions to Sri Lankan exports, especially apparel thereby giving tax free access to EU markets. Total trade with the EU in 2013 was a steady $ 4.95 billion, slightly rising from 2012’s $ 4.94 billion. Despite withdrawing GSP+, EU still continues with the GSP facility for Sri Lanka. EU is Sri Lanka’s single largest export market and has also been SL’s second largest trade partner for a long time. Total exports to EU in 2014 January-November provisional exports stood at $ 3.21 billion – a huge 32% from the same period’s total provisional exports at $ 10.1 billion. Sri Lanka’s fishery exports also surged by 9.99% to $ 242 million in January-November 2014 provisional export totals – in that, provisional ornamental fish exports increased by 17.33% to $ 11.51 million, crustacean exports increased by 29% to $ 51.10 million and edible fish surged by 5.25% to $ 179.76 million. Of Sri Lanka’s 75 medium and large scale fishery export companies, 32 utilise EU-approved processing plants.
