FEDERATION OF CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY OF SRI LANKA
Q: What financial support initiatives has the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) organised for businesses over the past year or so?
A: Last year, we formed a strategic alliance with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and conducted a study on the needs of different sectors and segments of businesses at the micro level, and for the SME sector.
The findings of this study were published as the PwC-FCCISL Business Resurgence Survey Report in March. These cross-sectional survey results indicate the areas in which these businesses need to improve, one of which is finance.
Presently, we are in the process of preparing proposals for the government and donor organisations to come forward to offer financial support – such as grants to improve working capital or special low interest schemes.
The prevailing interest rate is too high for those in the SME sector to service their loans. Therefore, these businesses need a grace period of two or three years at least to repay them. SMEs and large-scale companies need specialised funding schemes to recover from this crisis.
Q: In your assessment, which sectors were the most affected by the pandemic – and how does FCCISL look to facilitate their resurgence?
A: Travel, tourism and related sectors are the most severely affected. Meanwhile, the event management and construction sectors have also been impacted greatly. However, the sports sector is doing fairly well.
FCCISL has plans in place to support these sectors including promotional and industry development initiatives, in cooperation with tourism associations and the government.
Q: What are the urgent changes and mechanisms that must be implemented, to underpin business recovery and growth in the country?
A: The Business Resurgence Survey Report offers recommendations to improve Sri Lanka’s business climate as it ranks quite low on the ease of doing business index. This is a massive challenge for us to overcome.
Our industries need to become more competitive to survive in a market of nearly 22 million people. Some available opportunities they can leverage on include the development of new products, diversification and changing cost structures. Certain changes are needed and could be viewed as prerequisites to facilitate this.
Firstly, the cost of water and electricity should be reduced. The government must encourage productivity and reduce unnecessary expenditure in the utility sector to enhance its infrastructure.
Secondly, the rules and regulations – i.e. the legal requirements – for businesses should be relaxed. Reducing bureaucracy and red tape will motivate more entrepreneurs to launch businesses.
It’s imperative that the government takes entrepreneurs’ requirements into consideration when it prepares economic and business development plans.
Only with the government’s support does cultivating a culture that promotes and facilitates entrepreneurship become feasible. This is vital for the growth of the economy and will also improve Sri Lanka’s ease of doing business ranking.
Q: How do the Sri Lanka Entrepreneur of the Year Awards enhance the entrepreneurial spirit in the country, in your opinion?
A: Compared to other countries, Sri Lanka has fewer entrepreneurs – we barely have one percent of the volume of entrepreneurs produced by other nations. There are businesses here but such an entity does not equate to entrepreneurship.
These awards honour the best entrepreneurs in the country – and this sets an example for other aspiring entrepreneurs. In addition to this, FCCISL plans to conduct entrepreneurial development programmes in the future.
Ruwan De Silva
Director
Federation of Chambers of Commerce
and Industry of Sri Lanka
Project Chairman
Business Resurgence Survey
Q: Could you outline the goal of FCCISL?
Shirley Jayawardena (SJ): FCCISL aims to represent Sri Lanka’s business voice locally and internationally, and represent the country at international forums such as SAARC and the South Asia Women Development Forum (SAWDF), and in the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) and so on.
We also aim to connect Sri Lankan businesses globally. To this end, there are 50,000 businesses seated with us through 67 regional and national chambers.
FCCISL enables them to market their products and overcome constraints. As the apex body of 67 chambers, we help them address the collective issues of their members by lobbying the government and relevant organisations.
Q: What prompted the chambers to organise the Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the Year Awards?
SJ: The Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the Year Awards recognises our entrepreneurs and encourages them to continually enhance their enterprises. Moreover, the winners are motivated to add value to their organisations and products to be eligible for higher value awards.
There were four main categories of awards this year – viz. the Platinum Award for Entrepreneur of the Year, Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and the Most Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year.
Q: And what have you identified as the main challenges facing entrepreneurs – and how is FCCISL looking to address them?
SJ: One of the main challenges faced by entrepreneurs is access to finance. Only a minute percentage of entrepreneurs were able to garner financial aid such as moratoriums and low interest loans at the height of the pandemic.
Among the most affected were women entrepreneurs – especially in the SME sector. As a woman president, I’m keen to address such issues.
We’ve also been lobbying the government on behalf of all entrepreneurs, and considering the possibilities of development banks and venture capital funding mechanisms for Sri Lanka.
The other challenge for entrepreneurs is technology and productivity. To help them bridge this gap, we connect them to institutions where new technology is available.
Marketing is another significant challenge. Prior to COVID-19, we organised overseas exhibitions, and arranged free stalls and travel support for over 200 entrepreneurs, which will resume once it’s safe to travel again.
At present, we’re linking these businesses to virtual exhibitions to help them market their products internationally.
Q: Could you shed light on FCCISL’s plans for the future?
Ajith D. Perera (ADP): We plan to continue engaging in trade facilitation, and investment and capacity development in selected sectors. Trade facilitation aims to connect Sri Lankan businesses to global markets through trade chambers in the Asia-Pacific region whereas capacity development will occur in the food sector.
We will collaborate with the World Food Programme (WFP) on soft skills development training for SMEs in the food sector and also help these businesses embrace e-commerce.
Sri Lanka is ranked 84th of 141 economies in the Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 2019. Therefore, FCCISL has collaborated with IFC Colombo to launch a gender smart action plan – the Together We Can campaign – to provide technical guidance to 50 local companies.
With Australian Aid, a similar skills development programme was implemented in the past for the tourism industry, benefitting 1,000 employees in SME restaurants. Its second phase will be launched soon.
Finally, FCCISL is supporting Sri Lanka Customs and Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) in automating systems, while advocating the establishment of the National Single Window (NSW) to minimise human intervention in import and export procedures, reducing health risks for the workforce.
Q: How would you describe the prevailing business climate in Sri Lanka for entrepreneurs?
ADP: Sri Lankan entrepreneurs are resilient and on the road to recovery. With the exception of the tourism industry, these businesses view COVID-19 as a mere setback.
Despite barriers, there are many opportunities in agriculture, IT, pharmaceuticals, transport and rubber related products to name a few.
However, entrepreneurs expect support from the government with regard to finance and fiscal measures. They also seek to establish industry development and innovation cells through industry and academia collaborations.
The PwC-FCCISL Business Resurgence Survey Report revealed interesting findings, one being the business community’s willingness to change rapidly, which is a positive point for the country.
Q: What are the latest trends and innovations in entrepreneurship?
ADP: No nation could survive without innovation, which the pandemic has also encouraged. One such move is Accelerating Higher Education Expansion and Development’s (AHEAD) operation to strengthen university and business linkages and innovation.
This platform introduced new robotics technology, reducing human interaction in many processes and helping Sri Lanka’s fight against COVID-19, while remote patient and vision-based fabric quality monitoring systems are other examples.
FCCISL too has recognised the need to promote Sri Lankan entrepreneurship and its flagship event. As such, the theme for this year was ‘Innovation and Productivity for Sustainable Development.’
