Thrust sectors in Sri Lanka’s export basket record hefty growth

Target is to surpass 2019 export performance by end 2021

Apparel Industry reports healthy status of their order books

by Sanath Nanayakkare

Sanjaya Mohottala, Chairman of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) told The Island Financial Review yesterday that Sri Lanka’s exports have surged in the first half of 2021 as the economic recovery is springing back from the pandemic-hit, especially with the thrust sectors of the export economy showing notable resilience.

“Exports across all sectors combined have grown by +30% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis compared to 2020. Together with the Export Development Board (EDB), our aspiration is to surpass the full year 2019 export performance by the end of 2021, given that 2019 was one of the best years recorded for exports in Sri Lanka,” he said.

“We are happy to note therefore, that many sectors, especially the thrust sectors that the BOI has identified to drive the economy, namely; rubber, agri-processing, fisheries and also electronics, have recorded a YTD double digit growth compared to 2019.”

“While other sectors have also shown resilience amidst these turbulent times, with the rollout of the vaccination programme, we expect sectors such as the Apparel Industry to also catch up, given the current healthy status of their order books,” BOI chairman said.

Meanwhile, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi organised a webinar along with the Export Development Board (EDB) of Sri Lanka and the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Dubai recently to bridge over 100 Sri Lankan ICT firms and professionals with the UAE market to explore new opportunities within the ICT trade.

Chairman of the Sri Lanka Business Council in UAE Suren Swaminathan shared their enterprise expertise in UAE and highlighted that the Emirates of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah have grown quickly within the ICT sector and there are many three-way partnership opportunities for the Sri Lankan ICT sector within the UAE market.