News
Businesses hopeful that stable economic solution will be on the horizon
View(s):By Tharushi Weerasinghe
“We are happy that at least now a process is in place for a new President to be elected,” said Ceylon Chamber of Commerce CEO Manjula de Silva.
He said the protests themselves had not had any impact on most business operations since workers had no way of coming to work anyway.
“The fuel shortage and currency shortage are the real problems the community is battling now.”
He said some operations were coming to complete halts, and without fuel the whole business process–from supplies to deliveries to food distribution–was difficult.
“Even core staff cannot come to work so we are grateful that Parliament understands the sense of emergency and is meeting this Saturday,” Mr de Silva added.
Maintaining buyer confidence had been a challenge, however, he noted.
“We have had to maintain closer communications with buyers and assure them that business will go on as planned so they do not take their business elsewhere,” said Sri Lanka Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) Secretary General Yohan Lawrence.
He said the apparel industry had managed to keep operations running even though most manufacturers had their factories outside Colombo.
“Since the port and airport are fully functional we have managed to keep business up and running.”
Mr Lawrence also said the community was feeling more hopeful for a trajectory forward since the former President’s resignation and the Parliamentary process of arriving at a constitutionally sound solution to the crisis.
Some exporters also claimed their businesses had halted over the logistical issues as well as the shortages.
“Exports took a huge fall at the end of May since most the cargo ships we previously used were refusing to board anything from Sri Lanka,” noted Kandyan Spices Working and Foreign Affairs Director Randheera Herath.
He said the fertiliser issue had also hit the spice industry particularly hard last month and supply chains had stopped completely. By the end of last month, there was insufficient electricity to run the dryers and other equipment that were used in processing fresh spices, he added.
Mr. Herath identified four core issues where exports were concerned, high transportation costs due to the fuel shortage, high operation costs due to electricity cuts, smaller profit margins due to increased costs, and the lack of regular cargo ships to get their products out of the country.
“I strongly believe the next government should make some big moves to show the world that our exports are strong because as hard as it is to accept, most international customers are starting to lose their trust in our export industry.”
He said competitor countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh were beginning to take maximum advantage of the economic crisis.
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