The Export Development Council of Ministers (EDCM) has been revived and meetings of the Council commenced after a lapse of almost 28 years to address the issues of exporters that stand in the way to achieve the export sector goals, said Export Development Board (EDB) Chairman Mangala Wijesinghe.
The EDCM is a high-powered body set up under the Export Development Act No. of 1979 to support the export sector. Headed by the President and comprising key ministers overseeing various sectors such as trade, shipping, industries, and finance the council’s primary objective is to formulate and implement national export development policies and programs to enhance Sri Lanka’s global competitiveness.
“We had the first meeting of the Council which was successful and will be holding meetings on a quarterly basis to address the problems faced by exporters,” Wijesinghe said.
He said the Export-led Investment Committee has taken steps to reduce the time taken to approve investments aimed at enhancing exports.
“We need at least 25 export processing zones to promote export-oriented businesses,” the EDB Chairman said.
The objective of the Export-led Investment Committee is to encourage investments that will enhance the country’s export performance and reduce reliance on imports.
The EDB wants to increase the share of small and medium sector (SME) enterprises to the GDP from around 4% to 30% by 2030.
“About 48% of the exporters are micro level exporters. We hope to take them to the medium category in the next five years,” Wijesinghe said.
The apex body driving exports has set an export income target of US$ 18.2 billion in 2025 with US$ 14.5 billion to come from merchandise exports and US$ 4.5 billion from services exports.
It also wants to boost the share of export income to the GDP from around 19% to 25% in 2030.
“Despite the many challenges, the country is on path to achieve the export income target of this year which would be a 12% growth over last year’s US$ 16.2 billion income which was a 5% growth over the previous year,” Wijesinghe said.
Export sector demonstrated remarkable resilience and steady progress during the first four months of 2025, with export income reaching US$ 5,583.25 million, a 6.9% growth compared to the corresponding period in 2024.
Total exports, including merchandise and services reached US$ 1,292.63 mn in April 2025, a year-on-year growth of 8.74% over April 2024.
