Sri Lankan small industries neglected over the years – COSMI President
View(s):Micro and small sector industries have been neglected for the past two decades and every successive government that came to power failed to contribute to the micro sector—although it is the largest employer in the country, and the backbone of the economy, says Nawaz Rajabdeen, a veteran on small and medium-scale industries (MSMEs).
Mr. Rajabdeen, President, Confederation of Micro, Small and Medium Industries (COSMI), speaking at the recent AGM of the Hambantota District Chamber of Commerce (HDCC), said that regional and district chambers play an active role in supporting MSMEs across the country. Sri Lanka has more than 1.4 million micro and more than 500,000 are from the informal sector. Upto now, Sri Lanka doesn’t have an industrial policy in place.
“Neither do we have an industrial database of the micro and small sector in the country, which is fundamental in identifying the challenges and opportunities of the industrial sector in the country. As a result, every intervention made to support the industrial sector is isolated and disconnected with no coordinated approach nor overall vision. Sri Lanka needs a sustainable industrial policy, whichever government that comes to power will have to follow—which will not change every five years, to accommodate a new government. Regional and district chambers need to play an important role in contributing and identifying issues and opportunities, and in communicating these to the government and the respective ministries to take appropriate action,” he said.
Sri Lanka lags in Research and Development to support existing and emerging industries, if it is to compete and survive in the future and improve contribution by industrial sector to the GDP.
“We are mediocre in our research and development expenditure (% of GDP) which was 0.13 per cent in 2017. In 2017 Vietnam was 0.53 per cent four times higher than Sri Lanka. Singapore was 1.92 per cent in 2017—15 times highest than Sri Lanka,” he added.
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