CEYLON BISCUITS LIMITED
Q: The pandemic and other economic challenges have affected Sri Lanka’s export sector. How do you assess the prevailing scenario?
A: The current situation is quite challenging. The pandemic has disrupted global supply chains, leading to cost escalations due to a scarcity of raw and packing materials, labour shortages, and transport and logistics challenges.
Shipment reliability is at an all-time low while freight costs are at an all-time high. There’s a shortage of containers and severe congestion at ports around the world. All these factors have made exports quite expensive.
The current US Dollar shortage in the country is making it difficult to open letters of credit for the importation of vital raw materials while mandatory conversion of export earnings to local currency will expose exporters to foreign exchange risks in the future.
Q: How important are innovation and product development for export oriented companies?
A: Innovation and product development are critical ingredients of the recipe for success in the export market – much work needs to be done in this area.
Unfortunately, a majority of our export volume is in bulk commodity form with value addition happening elsewhere. We need this value addition to take place in Sri Lanka so that our exporters can demand a premium
Global consumer needs and preferences are quite varied – and evolving all the time. While exporters need to provide product and service solutions to meet consumers’ current requirements, they also have to keep innovating in order to cater to changing needs.
The pandemic has clearly taught us that agility and adaptability are critical success factors for companies in the ‘new normal’ era. Continuous innovation and product development are now more critical than ever before due to these reasons.
Q: What support is needed by Sri Lankan exporters to foray into new or emerging markets?
A: As I mentioned earlier, there should be a long-term focussed programme to support exporters – especially the SMEs – to penetrate, consolidate and expand in new markets that have potential for their products and services.
One of the biggest challenges for the SME sector is access to valuable market data to analyse and identify which markets hold the best potential. You can only obtain this from international research agencies, and the information can be very costly.
We recently worked with the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) to formulate a programme to provide such support. Apart from this, these exporters should be supported and guided to obtain the relevant certifications needed to access these markets.
Another critical factor is the development of relevant skills for international sales and marketing within the current workforce. Unlike in the local market, your approach in overseas markets can differ from country to country based on the maturity of consumers and level of sophistication in the retail sector.
Q: And finally, what lessons can Sri Lankan exporters learn from their global counterparts?
A: Our exporters can learn many lessons from their global counterparts. One of the biggest learnings is that exporting value-added branded products is more profitable than selling commodities in bulk.
Yes, there is an investment to be made in promoting and establishing our brands overseas. This is where the government can step in with a structured programme such as Turkey’s Turquality programme, which has brought great results.
Another key learning is the investment in new technology to improve productivity and consistency in quality, and aid innovation. This will enable us to maintain a competitive edge in the global markets.
