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| Sunday, 26 October 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Strategies to capture bigger slice of global export market Sri Lanka produces some of the best products in the world, but the lack of strategic planning in marketing these products results in the country losing foreign exchange.
Therefore, Sri Lanka should plan strategically to address the future changes in the global market place, said Hemal Dias, General Manager, Coco Lands, a subsidiary of the Renuka Group of Companies. "Sri Lanka is presently far behind countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia, who have overtaken us in factors such as agricultural economies of scale, innovations and commitment to improve export marketing," he said. They have positioned themselves by establishing business strategic units in various hubs around the world under the purview of the trade missions to gather information on new trends and requirements which have helped them to cater to the requirements of the global market. Problems In contrast, Sri Lankan manufacturers have immense difficulties in penetrating export markets even after producing great products. Another difficulty is the lack of information, knowledge of customer requirements, support from State agencies, funds, expertise in designing and packaging. "According to the latest statistics, our country still has less than 200,000 Internet users whereas it should be accessible to all who want to use it to gather information. In this scenario, how can we be competitive in global markets without the access to basic sources of information? Are trade counsellors gathering information and disseminating them to the relevant agencies in the country? Are they carrying out market surveys to see what products can be exported from Sri Lanka?" Dias said. "For example, there was an opening last year to export pottery products from sri lanka to Australia. Nobody pursued it and we lost it to Indonesia. The Australians were crazy over the pottery products made in Sri Lanka and this would have definitely helped rural folks earn a better living," he added. Local manufacturers hardly get an opportunity to understand customer requirements. Therefore, they tend to manufacture goods in the traditional manner without any differentiation, resulting in difficulty in penetrating the competitive export market, he said. Even if they participate at a foreign fair or exhibition with the help of the Export Development Board, they do not know what to take to attract visitors to the stall, specially if they are taking part for the first time. Display techniques play a vital role since first impressions last for a life time, said Dias. Country needs "Our country needs qualified international marketers as well as merchandising and display experts who are experienced and exposed to these fields to do the ground work for the manufacturers who have produced the products, toiling day and night. I strongly believe our trade missions can play a pivotal role in this regard," he said. "If any manufacturers are taking part in an international exhibition or trade fair for the first time, my advise is to take enough merchandising tools such as product leaflets, display cut-outs light boxes and display stands. Most importantly, prepare an excellent company presentation to attract the buyer; the presentation of your strengths and specialities would help you to attract buyers. Also, do not forget the sampling and demonstrations as many people visit stalls with the intention of sampling the products. These are not easy tasks to fulfil and therefore our State-funded organisations should take the initiative and leadership to assist our manufacturing community and improve international marketing. "Lack of expertise in the designing and packaging industry is another stumbling block we have to address as a nation. Sri Lanka has to always struggle to find good creative heads compared to guys in Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines, due to the simple reason that our people do not get much exposure and opportunities to interact with international markets and improve their knowledge. Packaging and labelling plays a pivotal role in selling the product and there are globally accepted trends as in the fashion world. A person who designs the packaging should be aware of the global trends as well as the requirements of the customer and the image of the product. Multinationals "Therefore, it is time that we get our act together and think of our social responsibility too. The country has to set up a business strategic unit to mainly look after and improve the agricultural-based industries and find markets for our products with a free flow of information to and from the producer to the market. "We Should encourage multinationals to start manufacturing plants to improve farming methods and processes. This is one method of learning the new techniques of the Western world," he added. "As an international marketer, I believe that we should support our university graduates. Over 90 per cent of our staff are graduates and most of them have post-graduate qualifications as well. Through this, we get better results at the end. This is a need of the country, but ironically, I have experienced that some of the private sector companies do not know the value and gravity of having qualified people working for them. People holding top positions feel insecure about hiring graduates because they themselves are not qualified in any discipline and therefore, the growth level of these places is very low, resulting in competitors penetrating into the same fields. "But how do they manage to keep their positions with all these individual drawbacks? Nothing, but good English. Communication is vital for any business today and this is why I always insist that graduates improve their language skills while studying. "It is good to see that all universities have realised the value of communication and are paying extra attention and effort to improve communication and presentation skills of their undergraduates," he said. |
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