Sri Lanka has been ranked 10 as the country with the cheapest manufacturing costs, as per a list compiled by US News and World Report by global survey respondents.
According to the report, India has become the leader when it comes to cheap manufacturing costs.
The list published by the US News and World Report is as follows: 1. India, 2. China, 3. Vietnam, 4. Thailand, 5. Philippines, 6. Bangladesh, 7. Indonesia, 8. Cambodia, 9. Malaysia, 10. Sri Lanka.
The rankings report is based on how global perceptions define countries in terms of a number of qualitative characteristics—impressions that have the potential to drive trade, travel, and investment, and directly affect national economies. The report covers perceptions in 85 nations.
Attributes were grouped into 10 sub-rankings that rolled into the Best Countries rankings: adventure, agility, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, Movers, Open for Business, Power, Social Purpose and Quality of Life.
These thematic sub-rankings were formed by grouping countries attribute that had similar global trends in survey responses. Sub-ranking scores for each country were determined by averaging the scores that country received in each of the attributes comprising that sub-ranking.
Manufacturing activities in Sri Lanka contracted significantly in October 2022, the Central Bank’s report released recently showed.
New Orders and Production declined significantly, particularly in the manufacture of food & beverages and textiles & wearing apparel sectors, mainly due to demand-side impediments.
Many respondents representing the food & beverages sector mentioned they experienced a notable decline in demand amidst the deteriorating purchasing power of the consumers.
Further, export-oriented manufacturers, especially in the apparel sector catering to the North American and European markets, highlighted that the decline in demand observed was mainly attributable to the fear of an economic slowdown in respective destinations.
Moreover, manufacturers are still struggling to acquire the required raw materials amidst high input costs.
Furthermore, Employment recorded a decrease in October 2022 while Stock of Purchases also decreased in line with the decline in New Orders and Production.
Meanwhile, Suppliers’ Delivery Time was shortened in October 2022 compared to the previous month.
Expectations for manufacturing activities for the next three months remained in the negative territory anticipating demand side impediments to continue in the period ahead.
