Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Delegation in Sri Lanka Loukas Petridis paid a farewell call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris on 25 April, 2022 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Minister Prof. Peiris appreciated the contribution made by the ICRC in Sri Lanka. He recalled the important role played in the past during the conflict situation and its current role in assisting with post conflict rehabilitation and reconciliation as well as the IHL training being provided to the Armed Forces, the Police and other Government Institutions.

In response to the briefing by Minister Peiris on current economic challenges, Head of the ICRC Petridis informed that the ICRC will donate medical supplies to Sri Lanka through the Sri Lanka Red Cross and further indicated that they are ready to provide humanitarian assistance based on the requirements of the Government.  

Foreign Minister Peiris conveyed his best wishes to Head of the ICRC Petridis on his new assignment and assured that he will continue to work closely with his successor to further strengthen cooperation with the ICRC.

The State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasooriya and Ministry officials were also present.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

27 April, 2022

Ambassador Majintha Jayesinghe handed over the Commission of Appointment to Dr.Christian Steppan as the new Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka in the administrative area of Tyrol in Austria.

Dr. Christian Steppan obtained his PHD in International Relations from the University of Innsbruck and Bologna and is a scholar of International Graduate School at the Universities of Bologna, Frankfurt, Innsbruck, Pavia and Trient. At present, Dr. Steppan works at MED-EL Medical Electronics managing business development activities in Sri Lanka. He is also fluent in German, English, Russian, Italian and French.

Agriculture and forestry occupy a special position in Tyrol. The many small and medium-sized farms have shaped the landscape and culture in Tyrol for many centuries. The most important sector in Tyrol is the tertiary sector. Tourism has a special position in this region.

The Embassy is also exploring the possibilities of appointing new Honorary Consuls in Salzburg in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary.

Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka

Vienna 

26 April, 2022

As the economic crisis in Sri Lanka —  the world’s largest exporter of orthodox tea — continues to rage across the island nation, tea producers in India look to cash in on the opportunity to seize the market.

The country’s largest tea growing company, McLeod Russel India, expects orders to come in from July.

“A huge opportunity is coming up for everyone in India.

“McLeod Russel is well placed because we have the capacity for orthodox tea,” said Azam Monem, director, McLeod Russel.

About 10 per cent of McLeod’s production is orthodox tea.

Amalgamated Plantations Private (APPL) — carved out of erstwhile Tata Tea to run plantations in North India — normally sells tea in auctions but will consider other options if they see opportunity for direct exports to Iran which is a major export destination for Sri Lankan tea.

“An in-depth assessment and evaluation is required to understand the market dynamics in Sri Lanka.

“Wherever there is a shortage, there is a business opportunity. The question is, how do we address it,” Vikram Singh Gulia, managing director, APPL, said.

Tea producers in South India may also look to step up orthodox production.

“An opportunity is opening up. It will be beneficial for South India because agro climatic conditions are similar to Sri Lanka.

“We can scale up production by 5-7 million kilogram.

“The capacity is there, it’s just a matter of price against cost.

“It would also help the sector if the orthodox incentive scheme is re-introduced,” said Sanjith R Nair, secretary, The United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI).

Some companies are already seeing enquiries.

“We have been getting more than usual queries from around the world as buyers are afraid that they may have to try and find replacement from North and South India, Vietnam and Indonesia,” said Himanshu Shah, chairman, M K Shah Exports, one of India’s largest orthodox tea manufacturing and export companies.

The opportunity for Indian tea firms lies in the anticipated shortfall in tea production in Sri Lanka.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, tea production in Sri Lanka recovered in CY2021.

But an ICRA report said that the increase was limited due to withdrawal of the use of chemical fertilizer around mid-2021 and its impact was pronounced from November 2021 onwards.

“Cumulative production during the four-month period of November 2021 to February 2022 is lower by 18 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis,” the report mentioned.

With the ongoing crisis, the trend of lower production is expected to continue.

“Unless there is incremental support from the government in Sri Lanka, production is expected to take a major hit.

“The current scenario is such that factories cannot run optimally because there is no electricity,” said Kaushik Das, vice president, ICRA.

“Moreover, there is a crisis in availability of diesel which is creating bottlenecks in moving the leaf from the garden to the factory for small tea firms”, he added.

The inability to procure the required pesticides and fertilisers, is also likely to impact health of bushes, impacting production.

Excluding China, the production of orthodox tea has been largely stagnant globally over the past few years.

In the global market, Sri Lanka is the largest supplier of orthodox teas, exporting more than 95 per cent of its production, according to the ICRA report.

Sri Lanka’s major export destinations are Russia, Iran and the UAE and therein lies India’s opportunity and challenge.

While these are common markets for India, exporters to Russia have been facing challenges since the war in Ukraine.

Sanctions on Russia resulted in delays in payments. Also, sending shipments is a major stumbling block to trade.

But exporters believe that a payment mechanism between India and Russia could open up huge opportunities for exports.

If a rupee-ruble mechanism is put in place, it will be a game changer for Indian orthodox teas, said Shah.

“It is being worked on and we have our fingers cross on this.

“If the government finalises the rupee-ruble mechanism and the rupee-rial barter is revived, then a lot of the woes of exporters will be eased,” said Tea Board sources.

But while in the near-term, India may see increased enquiries for exports due to the crisis in Sri Lanka, Das pointed out that in the long-term, good quality, consistent supplies and exports in value-added form will determine whether India will be able to make deeper inroads into markets controlled by Sri Lanka.

In addition to tea exporters, the economic crisis in Sri Lanka may benefit the Indian apparel industry in a small way but it will be the removal of import duty on cotton that may change the industry fortunes, said an official from Tamil Nadu exporters group.

Rediff Business

Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry was in Washington last week to talk to the IMF, the World Bank, India and others about financing help for his country, which has suspended payments on portions of its $51 billion in external debt.

Sri Lanka must tighten monetary policy, raise tax and adopt flexible exchange rates to address its debt crisis, a senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said on Tuesday.

The country of 22 million people has requested loans from the IMF as it struggles to pay for imports amid crushing debt and a sharp drop in foreign exchange reserves that has fueled soaring inflation.

“We’ve had very good, fruitful, technical discussions on preparations for the negotiations with authorities over the past weekend and couple of days before,” said Anne-Marie Gulde-Wolf, acting director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, speaking at an online news conference.

Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry was in Washington last week to talk to the IMF, the World Bank, India and others about financing help for his country, which has suspended payments on portions of its $51 billion in external debt.

“The requirement for fund lending will be progress toward debt sustainability,” Gulde-Wolf said, calling on Sri Lanka for measures to increase tax revenues to address critical spending needs.

“Monetary policy has to be tightened to keep inflation in check,” she said. “We see a need for flexible exchange rates.”

Gulde-Wolf did not reply to a question on the total value for any IMF package, nor the estimated timing of a conclusion to the negotiations with Sri Lanka.

Hindustani Times

Nearly 1000 trade unions in the country will be joining the all-island one day token strike to be held tomorrow (28) and the railway operations will also cease from midnight today (27) in support, said the Railway Trade Union Alliance speaking to media this afternoon.

“Many Railway Department bodies including the railway tracks, industrial units, track divisions as well as railway offices and administration offices are joining the strike. These railway workers have contributed to the success of the one-day token strike from midnight today to midnight tomorrow (28). Therefore, we have to say that the train service will not be operational tomorrow” said Convener of the Railway Trade Union Alliance S.P. Withanage.

MIAP

Police have unpinned and thrown away some of the posters set up by anti-government protesters on the fence in front of the Presidential Secretariat.

These posters featured photos of the abducted, assassinated or assaulted journalists in the course of time and demanded justice.

The posters included slain journalists Mailvanagam Nimalarajan, Lasantha Wickramatunga and Dharmaratnam Sivaram, abducted journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda and assaulted journalists Keith Noir and Poddala Jayantha and were thrown away on to the ground by two Police officers in plain clothes.

MIAP