Confederation of SMI steps in for MSME growth
In the present era dominated by dynamic technology trends, Sri Lanka’s Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are grappling to sustain in a global value chain as such industries cannot compete with cheap imports, an eminent group of veteran industry experts said.
From left- Dr. Jagath Peiris, Member, COSMI Governing Council; Nawaz Rajabdeen, Founder President, COSMI; Macky Hashim, Chairman, COSMI Governing Council; Dudley Thambinayagam, Member, COSMI Governing Council; and Nilu Rajapakse, Secretary General/CEO, COSMI.
Innovation level and value addition in locally made products of MSMEs are at very substandard level making it impossible to compete with global products, they added.
These local industries are on the verge of collapse in the stiff completion with Chinese and Indian products made in high tech factories.
Many small enterprises have already closed down due to lack of capital to upgrade technology, Founder President of this veteran expert group Nawaz Rajabdeen said.
MSMES are currently not in a position to acquire global technical knowhow in making innovative newer products, he added.
Small enterprises cannot bear the cost of funds in purchasing better and updated machinery and most of them have already shut down operations, he said adding that his newly formed confederation will assist to resurrect them.
Such enterprises are unable to compete with foreign companies engaged in exports and larger local enterprises focused more on product standardisation and quality assurance owing to their capacity to acquire awareness and investment.
In a mission of reviving the industry, the Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Industries (COSMI) was founded by a respected team of business and chamber leaders representing a cross-section of the industrial sector in Sri Lanka, with the sole aim of ‘reviving the MSME sector in Sri Lanka’.
Those veteran business and industrial experts have stepped in to find funding and provide technical knowhow and management expertise on a voluntary basis with their undisputed resolve to protect the industry, Mr. Rajabdeen said.
“COSMI has many activities planned out for its beneficiaries, through regional/international alliances and partnerships, to provide opportunities, exposure and bridge knowledge-gaps of local industrial MSMEs”, Governing Council Chairman Macky Hashim disclosed.
These activities are to be announced subsequently at the launching ceremony of the confederation in Colombo on October 30, he said adding that MSMEs are now invited to register with COSMI to obtain a wide range of benefits and support in their industrial and business activities.
Industrial MSME categories include manufacturing and processing in rubber and plastic based, tea, leather, metal, fibre, paper, furniture and furnishing, woodworking, gem and jewelry.
The other segments are coconut and coconut-based, agri-business and agricultural products, recycling of paper, plastics, rubber and industrial waste, printing and packaging, light engineering, tools, hardware and allied machinery.
In its business intervention strategy COSMI will also accord priority to alignment with Sustainable Development Goals, principle of a circular economy, harnessing regional technology, and developing a strong service sector to support industrial MSMEs.
It will be establishing local and international affiliations and collaborations and follow the success factors for SME competitiveness.
COSMI will also give special attention to the development of industrial MSMEs in the North and East regions and have already identified several potential projects that could be easily and successfully implemented in these regions, he disclosed.
The confederation has appointed an Advisory Panel consisting of leading academics and professionals in relevant fields to assist MSMEs.
There are various cheap imports of tiles, sanitary ware, glass and tableware from China, India, Indonesia and other Asian suppliers which are a significant threat to the local industry, Dr. Jagath Peiris, Chairman of National Institute of Exports, revealed.
In addition to this, the industry also experiences the cheap quality of raw material that is being dumped into the country, he said adding that they recommend anti-dumping legislation to avoid this and protect the local industry.