Ban on vehicle imports from Japan not a good move, says Japanese Ambassador
Restoring traditional exports such as apparel and agriculture products by diversifying exports provides new business opportunities to Sri Lanka. There are good opportunities available to Sri Lanka to export electronic devices and software to Japan, said Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Akira Sugiyama at a webinar on “After the pandemic: The way ahead”.
It was a meaningful message as Japan was once the biggest exporter of electronics goods and is now also importing these products.
The webinar was organised by the Sri Lanka –Japan Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce this week. The export of lap –top computers to Japan from April to June in 2020 had increased significantly.
The ambassador said that trade is a two way process and imposing trade restrictions on exports of vehicles from Japan to Sri Lanka by the Sri Lanka government has impacted businesses of Japanese companies in Sri Lanka.
Referring to tourism, he said he will encourage Japanese tourists to visit Sri Lanka. He said the pandemic has infected the richest to the poorest including business tycoons, small entrepreneurs and the daily wage earners and brought business activities to grinding halt. The education institutions too were shut down to protect the future generations from the pandemic. “The challenges we face today are multi- faceted. Both Sri Lanka and Japan are struggling to re-build their battered economies following the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
Resident Representative Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Colombo Office Masatomo Itonaga said that JETRO last year launched several online platforms to implement its activities. With regard to the agriculture sector, Sri Lanka can export black tea, pepper, spices to Japan and
Sri Lanka’s Embassy in Japan and the Export Development Board (EDB is working closely in this regard.
But there are also rival competitors from countries like Kenya, Malaysia and Indonesia and therefore factories that produce black tea in Sri Lanka has to be modernised to enhance productivity. Japanese companies together with Sri Lankan companies can modernise factories. State- of- the- art technology should be used to harvest agricultural products and Japanese companies can assist such endeavours. He said the Sri Lankan government’s policy on manufacturing 50 per cent of the drug requirement domestically is timely. “We have had a dialogue with local pharmaceutical companies on setting up of joint ventures in this regard. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Ayurveda products has a niche market in Japan,” he added. Chief Representative, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Fusato Tanaka said that JICA started its operation in Sri Lanka 60 years ago and in 1982 JICA’s office was set up in Sri Lanka.