Seen here State Minister of International Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe speaking to the media on the upcoming World Export Development Forum as Chairperson of the Export Development Board (EDB) Indira Malwatta, representative from International Trade Centre (ITC) and Exporters Association of Sri Lanka Chairman Fazal Mushin looks on at the press conference held at the Government Information Department.
Pic By Pradeep Dilruckshana

By Supun Dias
State Minister of International Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe said that Sri Lanka is looking forward to hosting the World Economic Forum as it has now got the opportunity to host the 16th edition of the World Export Development Forum which will be held on October 12 and 13 at the BMICH.   
“Similar thing happened to Ruwanda where two years ago they hosted the WEDB and then two years later rather in 2016 they were able to host the World Economic Forum (on Africa). Such platform enables local businesses to thrive with expertise coming in from international companies and it attracts lot of foreign investments too,” the Minister noted. 
As the flagship event of the International Trade Centre (ITC), WEDF brings together over 700 business leaders both foreign and local, policymakers, heads of trade and investment support institutions and international trade development officials to address international competitiveness for developing countries. 
 “It is a match making platform so that local businesses can collaborate with foreign companies that would enable them to come up with brilliant investment opportunities to the country,” he added.  A total of 136 local companies and 116 foreign companies have already registered for the B2B (Business to Business) sessions in sectors such as tourism, tea, spices, food, beverages, ICT, rubber and manufacturing. 
Minister Senasinghe also noted that his Ministry is also looking at developing the construction, ICT and Boat and Shipping sectors during the next few years. 
“We have to look outside of our traditional exports, otherwise we won’t be able to compete with booming markets like Vietnam. We were all in the same boat 20-30 years ago but countries such as Vietnam and Bangaldesh have managed to increase their exports substantially,” he stressed. 
Chairperson of the Export Development Board (EDB) Indira Malwatta said the growth of Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is very important as they will be the new exporters that we are looking to tap in order to increase our exports.
“This year has not being a great year for exports since our usual tea markets such as the Middle East and Russia have undergone economic hardships, and we hope that by the beginning of next year we will be able to reinstate our GSP Plus so that we can see some growth in exports,” she said. Exporters Association of Sri Lanka Chairman Fazal Mushin said that the government has finally listened to exporters, and by going forward with Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), Sri Lanka will be able to meet its targets i
n the future. 
“With the involvement of all the chambers, there will be a mini exhibition in parallel to the forum where it would showcase the best products made in Sri Lanka,” he said. 

High-profile visitors for WEDF 2016

The 16th edition of the prestigious World Export Development Forum (WEDF) taking place on the 12th and 13th of October 2016 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is drawing in a significant number of international trade and business icons to the country. 
The International Trade Centre (ITC) together with the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade of Sri Lanka, through the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB)is organizing the 2-day global conference, themed ‘Trade for Success: Connect, Compete, Change’. 
A highlight of the global export industry calendar, the forum is being graced by Patricia Scotland – Secretary General of The Commonwealth Secretariat, Khurran Dastgir Khan – Pakistan’s Minister of Commerce, Wang Shouwen – Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce of China and Arancha Gonzalez – Executive Director of the ITC among many others, where they will address challenges in international trade, and solutions to overcoming them. 
Among the global business leaders who will be participating at the summit is Mr. Vikrom Kromadit, Thailand’s biggest industrial-park developer. He is the Chief Executive Officer of the $500 million (market cap) publicly traded industrial-estate developer Amata. Kromadit founded Amata 17 years ago, a company that today controls 37 percent of the land developing market share in Thailand, more than twice its largest rival. Amata’s revenue for 2015 jumped by 48 percent to $116 million. 
Amata, specializing in planning, developing, managing and marketing integrated industrial estates, has two parks in Thailand and one in Vietnam housing 574 factories, including large multinational corporations such as Toyota, Bridgestone, BMW Group, Nestle, Sony,Colgate-Palmolive, etc.These parks are referred to as ‘cities’,which also includes other facilities such as hospitals, restaurants and even golf courses.  Kromadit kicked off his career running his family farm, but then ventured out to start his own trading business.
 In 1988 he invested in 120 acres of Thailand’s eastern seaboard, and over the next five years had signed up companies from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea including Hitachi and Mitsubishi. He established his second park in HoChi Minh City, Vietnam in 1994 and a third one again in Thailand. He is currently working on the third instalment of an autobiographical self-help series.
Eben Sermon – Vice President for Greater Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at eBay Inc., will also be participating at the conference. Sermon signed an agreement on behalf of eBay with the ITC to help small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) take advantage of global digital commerce. 
eBay offers to give these companies advice, enabling them to reach a global market and better position their offering. It is in this context that Sermon is joining the ITC for WEDF 2016, in order to ensure that SMEs are aware of the support they can get, and the opportunity they now have to overcome trade barriers, and focus on trading digitally.
Other notable dignitaries and business leaders include Péter Szijjártó - Minister of Foriegn Affiars & Trade and Dr. Petra Pana - Deputy State Secretary for Foreign Economic Affairs, both representing Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Executive Secreatary of The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Dr. Mukisha Kituyi – Secreatary General for the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (CTAD), Tony Nash – CEO and Chief Economist of Complete Intelligence Singapore, Dr. Naushad Forbes – President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Stefano Arganese - CEO of Central Eastern Europe and Middle Europe for DHL, Hongbing Gao - VP of Alibaba Group and Director of Ali Research, D. J. Pandian – Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) and Wabuyele Matanda – CEO of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The total number of registered foreign participants has well exceeded the expected 350. 
As a platform offering infinite opportunity to capitalize on the local trade potential, the conference will also be represented by the cream of the local commercial sector, bearing great promise for the immediate future of the local economy.