Sri Lankan exports have been stagnant for over a decade while those of neighbouring countries have grown exponentially.

While acknowledging the multiple crises that the country has faced – from a civil war to the more recent political and financial crises – on a recent episode of LMD’s weekly digital TV programme, the Secretary General and CEO of the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka (NCE) Shiham Marikar urged the nation to move forward with a sense of urgency.

“We need to recognise and appreciate Sri Lankan exporters who have sustained operations through these adversities, and build on their resilience – because we have the potential to go much higher and do much better to bring prosperity to our nation,” he said.

Marikar cited several serious challenges that hinder the export sector’s development, beginning with policy inconsistency: “We need to focus on creating stable and consistent policies that don’t change with every new government. This will give our exporters the confidence to invest and expand.”

“Additionally, we need to speed up the decision-making process, and fully empower organisations like the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) and Department of Commerce to lead the charge in boosting exports,” he urged.

Recently, the NCE presented policy proposals to the main presidential candidates that outline strategic recommendations to boost the competitiveness of Sri Lankan exports, attract foreign investments and create a more conducive environment for the export sector to thrive.

“As a chamber, we have more than 500 members covering almost all product and service sectors. So we conducted a survey among them on their concerns and what kind of change they will need in the future,” Marikar revealed.

He shared some of the proposals, starting with the most prioritised request to fast track the implementation of critical trade facilitation measures: “This will reduce the time and cost for exporters to engage in international trade, simplify and streamline matters, and automate processes to make them transparent and predictable.”

Another proposal is to expedite the automation of border agencies. “We want all border agencies to come on board a platform called the ‘single window,’ which will simplify international trade by allowing traders to submit all required documents online to a single entry point,” he explained.

Marikar continued: “The government will also benefit in terms of efficient resource allocation and better tax revenue tracking.”

Despite Sri Lanka commencing discussions around the single window concept in the 1990s, progress has been lamentably slow, he observed: “Over three decades, only two or three agencies have come on board whereas we have around 50 agencies in total.”

And the submission contains more requests including establishing more eco industrial parks to attract investors who are interested in environmentally-friendly business operations and implementing the Madrid Protocol.

The latter will enable Sri Lankan brands to register their trademarks in over 100 countries that have implemented it. These are a few of the 12 proposals outlined in the chamber’s submission.

“Exporters are hoping that whoever comes to power [following the presidential election] will focus more on increasing exports and the number of exporters,” Marikar stated.

And he noted: “What’s needed is strong leadership, and the appointment of highly competent and able officers in various departments that play an important role in policy-making for exporters.”

“They need to work on removing red tape and streamlining processes. We also have to seriously look at eradicating bribery and corruption, and make it a very transparent process where exporters can function without any hazards,” he added.

Marikar concluded: “We have to make it easier for companies to look at exports as their future, as we need more exporters in the country.”