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| Sunday, 30 May 2004 |
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Entrepot trade to be promoted by Hiran H.Senewiratne The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) will promote entrepot trade in the country in a big way with a view to doubling exports within a year. "This was a lucrative business and could be a main forex exchange spinner if the government supports it in a systematic way", a leading businessman said. Under this trade system traders can import goods and store them in Customs bonded warehouses for the purpose of re exporting them to a third party/country, EDB Director Services M.K. Udayapala said. He said that traders are allowed only to do simple processing such as packaging and labelling, without changing the nature of the product.These minor processing could be done within the Customs bonded warehouses,he said. Moreover, goods may be transferred from one vessel/aircraft to another within the sea/airport without the cargo being taken into a bonded warehouse, he added Udayapala also said that the EDB invite leading companies in the country to be actively involved with the business,which at present has only a few entities involved in it . He said that Sri Lanka has the potential to promote entrepot trade in a big way due to the ideal geographical location and low investment cost. According to Udayapala, items such as textiles and garments, cloves, narcotics and arms and ammunition cannot be processed due to the international trade obligations. If the country can promote this trade it would greatly benefit the traders as well as the country, he said. Udayapala also said that under this system traders would be able to getting into this business witha low capital investment and could start within a short timespan. Currently, countries like HongKong, Dubai and Singapore are involved in entrepot trade in a big way, he said. In the EDB's export development plan it had selected entrepot trade is a matter of importance. The EDB has taken the initiative to promote this trade in a big way.Currently, many countries in the region are earning a lot of foreign currency out of this trade, the EDB Director said. According to EDB sources it has appointed an advisory committee consist of representatives from the EDB, the Exchange Control Department, Sri Lanka Customs, Ports Authority, Department of Commerce and traders association, to facilitate this task. |
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