Sri Lanka is currently facing a dip in export earnings and this is a common scenario all over the world, said Chairman Export Development Board (EDB) Dr Kingsley Bernard.
He said that this is due to the current global economic downturn faced by many countries which is expected to subside towards the end of the year.
While inaugurating the first EDB online application portal https://pea.edb.gov.lk/ dedicated for 25th Presidential Export Awards (PEA) which would be held in November 23, 2023 at BMICH with President Ranil Wickremesinghe as the chief guest he said that due to many economic and geopolitical issues buying power of countries like USA, US and EU have reduced.
“This has negatively affected the Sri Lanka apparel exporters who are main contributors for export earnings which in turn has reduced the export revenue.
We had our best year of exports in 2022 earning USD 15 billion bettering the 2021 figure of USD 14.4 billion and USD 12.3 achieved in 2021.We see the economy in most of the countries settling in and we have set a target to achieve USD 18.8 billion export revenue for 2023.
He also said that they have introduced several new products to the counter export basket mostly in the wellness and organic food and pharmaceutical sectors.
“We also see the service sector contributing more towards export earnings along with ICT and electoral and component manufacturing sectors.”
Commenting on the new portal he said that exporting companies will be able to submit online applications through this portal from today till August 7, 2023. Apart from the online application, exporters will be able to get all the relevant details such as Award Categories, Guidelines, Evaluation Criteria, instruction videos to fill the application and the testimonials given by the winning companies on this prestigious PEA Award. The PEA was initiated by the EDB in 1981, and then EDB has organized 24th ceremonies for the past years and this year EDB is planning to organize the 25th PEA Ceremony at the BMICH with participation of around 1,500 invitees including ministers, diplomatic corps, government officials, well-wishers as well as exporters.
This year’s awards ceremony will be held to recognize the country’s best exporters for two financial years 2021/22 & 2022/23. The awards will be presented in two main categories with 13 overall awards and 51products & services sector awards for each financial year. The selections for the awards were done by an eminent panel headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court.
Add new comment