Supporting local enterprises
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Those who grew up in the 1970s will remember the hard times with bread queues and food shortages. I remember once travelling to a store in Kandana near Ja-ela from Colombo to buy a hard-to-get Linton’s shirt! The top two brands of shirts during that time were Hentleys and Linton’s. No imported shirts were permitted – a far cry from today where Sri Lanka’s garment industry has mastered the art of producing high-quality shirts which sell under different brands like Marks & Spencer, globally.Sounds familiar with a different twist? Fifty years later it has also been a case of queueing outside supermarkets and/or pharmacies and at one point to buy liquor during the weeks of March/April as the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a country-wide lockdown. Import controls were brought in and some essential imported items were in short supply. These restrictions are to continue.
One of the messages that came out during the lockdown was our dependence on essential imported goods like dhal, milk powder, potatoes and big onions among others and the necessity to increase local production. You cannot do away with imports totally but increase more production to make it more competitive which benefits the consumer. It was also stated that consumers should support local enterprises, many which emerged during the lockdown particularly to supply essential goods.
As I was pondering on these happenings, there was a call. It was ‘Karapincha’ Perera, the ‘tea-kade’ gossip, on the line.
“I say…..how are you doing?” he asked. “Well, well,” I said. “I was reading a newspaper article on how President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has urged industrialists and agriculture producers to step-up production,” he said.
“While it’s a good policy to improve agriculture and crops, to some extent followed by previous governments too, there is a need to provide more concessions and bring in measures to uplift local farmers who are deep in debt,” I said, adding that there needs to be a robust plan to uplift local production.
“You’re right. I saw on TV some weeks ago how farmers have had to destroy their produce as markets were closed during the lockdown, while in recent times their crops have been attacked by pests,” he said.
Here are some points from the President’s meeting with industrialists:
- Industrialists need to win the local and global market.
- While introducing new technology, the importance of maintaining the highest possible level of standards in every product manufactured and every service provided in the country, was stressed.
- Loans at single-digit interest rates are now available. Local production should cover a range of goods from brooms to medical drugs.
- Local production of agricultural items should increase and reduce the dependence on foreign goods.
During the conversation, I also drew ‘Karapincha’s’ attention to a June 7 speech by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Summing up Singapore’s strategy, he said countries will strive to be less dependent on others especially for essential services and goods like food or critical medical supplies. “Many industries will have to reinvent themselves to survive,” he had said.
As I wound up my discussion with ‘Karapincha’, my attention was drawn to the conversation under the margosa tree. With the country gradually opening up, the trio had resumed their regular ‘gossip’ under their favourite tree. This time, the topic was crowds at state hospitals.
“Den apahu ispirithalawala senaga godak innava. Eth samaharu muhunu avarana andinne-ne (Once again there are crowds at hospitals but some people are without face-masks),” said Kussi Amma Sera. “Aiyo, korona vairasaya thavamath thiyenawa-ne. Ithin meka honda-ne ne (Aiyo, this is not good with the coronavirus still around),” noted Serapina.
“Mamath eka dekka baahira rogi ansayata giyama (I too noticed this when I went to the OPD for treatment),” added Mabel Rasthiyadu.
Good points. At least, they understand the gravity of the situation in Sri Lanka that face-masks wearing in public should be made compulsory by law since a second wave of infections cannot be ruled out.
Back to the topic of uplifting local industries, in a boost to local businesses, the President recently announced a ban on imports of handlooms and batiks; a good move.
Remember the 1970s when most of Sri Lanka’s fabric was produced by local handlooms spread across the country? I remember at that time in my town there was one small handloom unit in a school-like building with half walls so that you could hear the sound of the looms operated manually by young women.
What is interesting is that while these dominated the textile sector then, this industry has seen rapid progress now into a giant sector, moving with technology and machine-led advances. Sri Lanka has made a global name as a site for the production of high-quality garments.
Other local products that have garnered world attention are Dilmah tea, straight from the fields to the consumer, Maliban and Munchee biscuits, and to some extent Kandos chocolates. No foreign product has been able to break into the local biscuit or chocolate market with the local products being at the top.
Visit the supermarkets to see the range of Sri Lankan products on the shelves with world-class packaging and excellent product quality. While local products, which had a monopoly during the 1970s era of a restricted economy with little or no imported goods, were of poor quality then which consumers were forced to buy, there has been a marked improvement in quality now.
In a recent social media post, Dulith Herath, founder of online trading portal Kapruka, suggested a reduction in the import of toys and support for local enterprises, saying that one organisation, ‘Sarvodaya Woodwork Products’ is helping social enterprises to produce toys.
“This local cottage industry of local toy manufacturing is mainly consisting of producer groups of individual families supported by relatives and neighbours. While Sarvodaya provides them with materials, skills and standards to meet, isn’t it our collective responsibility to provide them with the local market to sell them?” he asked.
Kussi Amma Sera, at this point, broke away from her ‘meeting’ to bring me a second cup of tea, which I sipped as I wound up my column for the week, realising that the COVID-19 pandemic provides a great opportunity to enhance the marketplace with more quality, local goods which should be encouraged by a proper state policy framework to support local industries.