Supporting Enterprise

Chamber initiatives have sought to facilitate exporters during the pandemic

Compiled by the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE)

As the only private sector chamber that exclusively serves Sri Lankan exporters, the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE)  also represents their concerns related to exports with relevant state authorities. It provides a range of services to member export enterprises and general services to Sri Lankan exporters.

COVID-19 has had a devastating and adverse effect on the world economy – particularly the economies of developing countries such as Sri Lanka that depend heavily on exports and other avenues of foreign exchange earnings.

Exporters sustain economies and provide employment to a substantial number of people. Sri Lanka’s export sector has been negatively impacted due to the restriction of imports by external markets and domestic production activities coming to a virtual standstill during the curfew in Sri Lanka.

This includes the export of apparel products, which witnessed a downturn of between 30 and 40 percent, as well as appreciable declines in segments such as spices and spice products, processed food products, other agricultural products and manufactured rubber products.

NCE provided services to Sri Lanka’s export related enterprises through several measures during the curfew last year.

Representations were made to the government with proposals to support exporters through financial assistance packages to overcome working capital and liquidity issues. Furthermore, measures to retain workers in their employment during the crisis were proposed.

The chamber also set up a helpdesk in partnership with its Strategic Knowledge Partner, the multinational audit firm EY, and the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (CMA) to offer professional services to export oriented ventures. This included assistance to prepare proposals for business recovery for submission to designated commercial banks under the refinance schemes announced by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

During this period, certain buyers of Sri Lankan products – especially in the apparel industry – cancelled orders even after goods were ready for export or requested unreasonable discounts, taking advantage of the pandemic.

The chamber intervened to seek the assistance of foreign missions of the relevant countries to resolve such issues. Amidst the curfew, the chamber also increased its service levels to provide digital certificates of origin (DCOs) online to effect export shipments without disruption because the means to obtain COs manually were restricted.

Exporters faced increased freight charges due to restrictions in air cargo capacities stemming from the cancellation of flights – especially affecting perishables – and due to the imposition of exorbitant demurrage charges by the Ports Authority given importers’ inability to clear shipments of export related goods. Demurrage charges were also imposed by shipping lines due to delays in clearing import cargo. The chamber intervened to resolve these impediments.

NCE conducted several webinars during the curfew and thereafter, to assist exporters as necessitated by physical distancing norms.

A webinar on ‘How to Navigate Your Business Through COVID-19’ was conducted in collaboration with professionals attached to EY and Commercial Bank of Ceylon, to discuss how exporters could effectively realign their businesses to overcome the challenges of COVID-19. It also provided insights on preparing applications to obtain assistance under government programmes to provide financial incentives to affected enterprises.

Meanwhile, a programme was conducted on providing ‘COVID-19 Controlled Environment Compliance Certificates’ to enterprises that complied with health and safety regulations pertaining to their operations.

This webinar was conducted in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) to create awareness among export enterprises of the importance of complying with health and safety standards. It explained the criteria to obtain the certificate awarded by SLSI as a means to provide assurance to foreign buyers that Sri Lankan enterprises were following the stipulated health and safety measures to overcome COVID-19.

Online training programmes on ‘Preventive Controls Qualified Individuals (PCQI)’ were conducted to assist businesses in the food processing sector, and enable compliance with rules and regulations imposed by the FDA and other relevant regulatory bodies to be eligible to access consumer markets in the US.


The regulations require at least one PCQI qualified individual in export enterprises related to food processing. The training was conducted by a qualified and authorised professional of the chamber. A certificate, which is recognised by buyers in the US, was awarded by the chamber to participants who completed the training successfully.

Another challenge faced by the chamber during the COVID-19 restrictive period was in relation to the publication of the quarterly Sri Lanka Exporter magazine, which had hitherto been printed and distributed to all important trade points both locally and overseas without a lapse since its inception in 1992.

This flagship publication of the chamber is the only one of its kind in the field of exports. It carries valuable articles and information including overseas market trends for Sri Lankan exports, and is subscribed to by experts and professionals. The publication also serves to promote the capabilities of Sri Lankan exporters in overseas markets.

Therefore, the chamber took the initiative to publish the magazine online to overcome the challenges faced by exporters during the crisis.

With regard to the submission of customary budget proposals of the chamber related to issues of the export sector to formulate the annual budget of the government, NCE engaged with member exporters to obtain their inputs regarding the strategies to be adopted to overcome the challenges they expect to face in international markets in the ensuing years amid recessionary economic conditions.

Notably, NCE did not fail to conduct its Annual Export Awards to recognise and reward the achievements of Sri Lankan exporters in international markets during 2019 – this, despite the many practical difficulties encountered by the chamber to conduct this event, which has assumed national significance over the years since its inception in 1992.

The chamber considered it crucial to conduct the event for 2020 as planned since it would provide a valuable platform for Sri Lankan exporters to demonstrate their capabilities and success stories to stakeholders across the world – i.e. as worthy business partners who have stamped their capacity and resilience to overcome challenges including that of COVID- 19.

This objective was achievable since all activities related to the event received maximum publicity through print and electronic media, as well as overseas trade contact points, to attract the attention of prospective buyers.