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EDB Chairman and CEO Dr. Kingsley
By Charumini de Silva
Despite the turbulent global economic landscape, the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) remains optimistic about achieving its ambitious export target of over $ 16 billion for 2024.
EDB Chairman and CEO Dr. Kingsley Bernard expressed confidence in the country’s ability to reach this goal, driven by new initiatives and strategic adjustments to boost exports.
“We are forecasting a performance of $ 16.3 billion in merchandise and service exports in 2024, which includes over
$ 12.7 billion from merchandise exports and $ 3.6 billion from service exports,” he told the Daily FT.
As per EDB’s 2023 forecast —$ 5.16 billion to come from apparel and textile, $ 1.39 billion from tea, $ 988 million from rubber and $ 753 million from coconut-based products. From the other sectors, 517 million from electrical and electronic components, $ 489 million from petroleum products, $ 427 million from spices and essential oils and $ 412 million from diamonds, gems and jewellery, $ 278 million from seafood and $ 140 million from boat building.
In addition, EDB estimates to generate $ 1.75 billion from transport, $ 1.42 billion from ICT/BPM, $ 408 million construction and $ 64 million from financial services exports.
Dr. Bernard acknowledged that achieving these targets would depend heavily on the prevailing conditions in the global economy, which continues to be unpredictable.
Sri Lanka’s export sector has shown resilience despite these challenges. During the first seven months of 2024, total export earnings registered $ 9.13 billion reflecting a 5.86% year-on-year (YoY) growth. Merchandise export earnings in July saw a 6.58% YoY increase reaching $ 1.08 billion, driving the total value of goods shipped in first seven months of 2024 to $ 7.23 billion. The estimated service export earnings from January to July 2024 increased by 9.52% to $ 1.9 billion. The service exports include ICT/BPM, construction, financial services, transport and logistics industries.
“Although the future remains uncertain, our commitment to enhancing Sri Lanka’s export performance remains steadfast. The private sector and the facilitators in the State sector have a greater role to play in realising this year’s goal as the success of achieving the export targets are crucial for the broader economic stability and growth,” Dr. Bernard explained.
Sri Lanka finished 2023 with $ 14.94 billion in total exports, slightly down by 0.39% from the previous year’s $ 14.99 billion. The highest total export performance to date was $ 15.9 billion achieved in 2018.
To further boost the country’s export potential, the EDB in collaboration with the Investment Promotion Minister last year sought technical support from the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva to update its existing Export Strategic Plan. The focus was on revitalising the National Export Strategy (2018-2022) to better align with current market challenges and opportunities.
