By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka has sought to expand its exports to China particularly Ceylon cinnamon, seafood, fruits and vegetables and gemstones.

China and Sri Lanka, this week, successfully concluded the 12th round of Diplomatic Consultations between the two countries.

The consultations were co-chaired by Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka Aruni Wijewardane and the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Sun Weidong, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo.

The discussions focused on bilateral cooperation, economic and trade cooperation, current economy recovery process, livelihood assistance and financial support, people-to-people exchanges and multilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Elaborating on the high levels of development in China leading to a new development paradigm, China’s path to modernization and successfully elevating millions of Chinese citizens out of poverty in the past four decades, the visiting Vice Minister of China, Sun Weidong stated that there is opportunity for result oriented cooperation with Sri Lanka.

Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane appreciated China’s assistance to Sri Lanka during the challenging period and sought China’s support in expanding Sri Lanka’s exports to China, particularly the export of Ceylon cinnamon, seafood, fruits & vegetables and gemstones.

Further she explained Sri Lanka’s economic recovery and welcomed the increasing trend of Chinese tourist arrivals. During the consultations Sri Lanka and China pledged to further consolidate bilateral ties for the mutual benefit of the peoples of the two countries.

During the visit, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

The visiting Chinese delegation also held constructive engagement with the members of the Sri Lanka – China Parliamentary Friendship Association and is expected to visit the Sri Lanka – China Friendship Village in Dewanagala. The Vice Minister will also pay homage to the temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy and call on the Mahanayake thero of the Malwatte Chapter.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka and Maldives have agreed to implement practical strategies to derive maximum benefit from the evolving concept of the blue ocean with proper management of the exploitation of marine resources.

Economic co-operation, tourism, youth and skills development, employment, collaboration in the fields of health and higher education, as well as consular and community issues were also included in the work plan.

Cabinet nod has been given to ink MoUs with Maldives on Customs regulations, health sector.The Government has decided to boost its cooperation with the Maldives to further strengthen, promote and improve affiliation and mutual assistance.

The Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting on Monday approved two proposals following the Attorney General clearing the draft Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs).

One of the Cabinet clearances was for the resolution presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies Minister to enhance cooperation and mutual assistance in Customs affairs.

The key objective of this MoU is to strengthen mutual understanding and communication between the two countries.

The second approval was for the proposal tabled by Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella to bolster combined efforts in the health sector.

The aim is to improve health services, promote research and development (R&D) activities and enhance the overall well-being of the people of the two countries. “Sri Lanka and Maldives have a longstanding relationship in the region.

The Maldivian citizens have high regard for the education and health sectors of Sri Lanka. Most of their children come for studies, while the majority of Maldivians come for health purposes.

Therefore, both these proposals will further strengthen the ties between the two countries,” Cabinet Co-Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena said at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing .He also said it is a win-win agreement for Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

The short travel distance between the Maldives and Sri Lanka (an hour and five minutes by plane) facilitates trade of goods and services, and there is a long history of economic relations between the two countries. In the modern trade relationship, however, there are several comparative advantages that the two nations can explore.

The Maldives, being an archipelago with a total land mass of 298 square kilometers compared to Sri Lanka’s 64,630 sq km, is heavily constrained by a lack of land and its small domestic market of just 392,473 people.

This limits its ability to farm, extract natural resources without great environmental cost, and develop an industrial sector. Thus, it is heavily dependent on imports for almost all its goods.

Sri Lanka had a trade surplus of USD 16 million with the Maldives some times back , making it the 23rd largest market for Sri Lanka’s exports.

The goods exported to the Maldives are predominantly machinery and electronics, vegetables, metals, and food products.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka is set to explore marine tourism once again with Asian Development Bank assistance as the country is blessed with plentiful and diverse coastal and marine resources having a high potential value for tourism,a top official of tourism disclosed.

Around 1,000 miles of coastal area in the country are extensively utilized for tourism product development. About 75 percent of the graded hotels in Sri Lanka and 80 percent of the hotel rooms are located in coastal areas

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTA) has appointed a committee to explore the potential of marine tourism as part of a marine tourism master plan for 2024 to develop with Asian Development Bank (ADB) assistance.

SLTDA Chairman Priyantha Fernando revealed that a marine tourism consultant will also be in Colombo on June 02 whose expertise is being sought.

“The level of investment needed is difficult to estimate at the moment,” Fernando said. “The last budget had allocated 50 million rupees which made it hard to make improvements. However, this year I believe we will spend 200 to 250 million on the development process.”

Sri Lanka’s coasts have been popular tourist attractions with coral and whale watching being activities that have generated significant interest among visitors.

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, which suffered immensely over the last few years due to the Easter attacks, the pandemic and a currency crisis, has seen some improvement in 2023 with the country on track to earning projected tourism revenues for the year, according to SLTDA.

A majority of tourists arriving in Sri Lanka so far in 2023 have been from Russia at 100,507 arrivals from January to May. One contributor to the increase in tourist revenue is expected to be the growth of marine tourism, SLTDA said.

However, in spite of the comparatively high resource base, Sri Lanka’s earnings from coastal and marine tourism still remains below true potential.

The beach holiday in Sri Lanka is popular among the predominantly Western European winter season tourists. It is evident from the high occupancies in the beach-oriented hotels in winter. Yet, more could be done.

The majority of tourists tend to fall into one of three market segments based on their needs and motivations: on shore, off-shore and inland.

Coastal and marine tourism covers the first two segments. In other words, if we view through a broader sense of tourism, coastal and marine forms part of a tourist’s experience rather than offering a separate experience of itself.

That’s important to understand and to accept it before examining the elements of an appropriate development agenda, he pointed out.

But we also want tourism sector -on shore, off-shore or inland – to grow on a sustainable basis. For that reason, we need to concern ourselves with four sets of conditions including contented visitors leaving Sri Lanka with expectations met or exceeded and coming again or recommending the country to others,

Profitable enterprises large and small, capable of satisfying tourists competitively but at a profit to sustain operations and to reinvest in the business, a nurtured environment – sensitively develop and manage our natural environment, and engaged communities were among the four factors .

Sustainable tourism proactively engages with local communities for economic benefit and through its actions should enhance a location as a place to live as well as a place to visit.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): The trade deficit continued to remain modest but it narrowed in April 2023, compared to a year ago, though it recorded a month-on month increase for the third consecutive month.

The deficit in the merchandise trade account narrowed to US dollars 583 million in April 2023, from dollars 728 million recorded in April 2022 due to a larger decline in imports, compared to the decline in exports.

However, the trade deficit showed an increasing trend on a monthly basis since January 2023. The cumulative deficit in the trade account during January to April 2023 was US dollars 1,444 million, a sizeable decline from US dollars 3,125 million recorded over the same period in 2022.

Earnings from merchandise exports declined by 12.6 per cent in April 2023, over April 2022, to US dollars 849 million, recording the lowest earnings since April 2021.

The decline in earnings from industrial exports, including garments, associated with slowing external demand mainly contributed to this contraction in export earnings in April 2023, compared to a year earlier.

Meanwhile, export earnings have declined month-on-month basis due to a broad-based decline in earnings from most of the major export categories, partly driven by low activities during the April holiday season.

Cumulative export earnings during January to April 2023 recorded at US dollars 3,846 million, a decline of 9.0 per cent over the same period in the last year

Expenditure on merchandise imports declined by 15.8 per cent to US dollars 1,431 million in April 2023, compared to US dollars 1,699 million in April 2022.

A decline in expenditure was observed in imports of intermediate goods and investment goods, while an increase was recorded in imports of consumer goods. However, there is an increase in the import expenditure in general since March 2023.

Meanwhile, cumulative import expenditure during January to April 2023 declined by 28.0 per cent over the corresponding period in 2022.

Expenditure on the importation of consumer goods increased in April 2023, compared to a year ago, led by higher expenditure on non-food consumer goods although food and beverages imports recorded a decline.

Expenditure on non-food consumer goods increased due to higher medical and pharmaceuticals (mainly, medicaments), while most of other subcategories declined, compared to April 2022.

Meanwhile, the decline in expenditure on food and beverages was broad-based, but the drop in imports of cereals and milling industry products (primarily, rice) and dairy products (primarily, milk powder) was notable.