There’s a growing market in the Maldives for Lankan products, particularly in the tourism, agriculture, food processing, textiles, and construction materials industries, but local exporters faced various constraints in tapping into this, said President of the Sri Lanka-Maldives Business Council, Sudesh Mendis.
He was speaking at the 16th AGM of the Council. The two Indian Ocean island nations are heavily reliant on tourism and foreign exchange earnings.
“We all recognise that Sri Lanka needs foreign exchange, but the current situation feels like squeezing a patient’s neck and asking them to breathe,” he said.
“Last year market share in Maldives in imports has slightly increased to 4.6%. But achieving less than a 6% market share is disappointing. 8 years ago, we held approximately 7.02% market share.
“While our export revenue has grown, it has not kept pace with overall market growth, resulting in decline in our market share,” Mendis said.
“Inflation, high taxes, stringent customs regulations, import duties on raw materials, strict regulations on re-export items, exchange rate fluctuations, and big gap between bank buying and selling rates, unethical business practice, Immigration restrictions are some of the reasons why we are losing our export market,” Mendis said.
A delegation from the Council had visited seven ministries in the Maldives.
“During our visit to the Maldives, we noticed there are significant opportunities in the Maldives.
“They refer to Sri Lanka as their second home. Unfortunately, we have allowed these opportunities to slip into the hands of other countries.
“In 2018 there were 17,000 Maldivians living in Sri Lanka, now we have only 1,800.
“We discussed various issues and explored opportunities in the Maldives. They assured us of their cooperation and requested our support in strengthening bilateral relationships between our two countries,” he said.
The export of fruits and vegetables had seen a reduction due to high prices in Sri Lanka, Mendis said.
“During our discussions with the Tourism Ministry and Maldives Port Limited, they requested us to establish a cruise service with cargo facilities,” he said.
The Council had met Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority, Ali Hashim to discuss financial matters and new regulations affecting both countries, and Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs Moosa Zameer to discuss issues faced by Lankan exporters and businessmen in Maldives, Mendis said.
Several collaborative events are planned during the coming year, Mendis said.
The council had organised an exhibition together with the Export Development Board, which saw strong SME participation.
“We were able to introduce many innovative products to the Maldives through this exhibition. Next year we are planning to hold another exhibition to promote our education institutes,” he said.
High Commissioner of Maldives to Sri Lanka Masood Imad was the chief guest.
