Sri Lanka’s policies not conducive to become a mass commodity exporter
Mr. Vijay Sharma
While one of Sri Lanka’s challenging and daunting tasks is the inconsistency of policies, from a manufacturing point of view the policies are not conducive to becoming a mass commodity producer and exporter. Serendib Flour Mills, CEO, Vijay Sharma said during an interview with the Business Times.
Mr. Sharma said, “From a manufacturing point of view Sri Lanka’s policies are not conducive to becoming a mass commodity producer and exporter. The country needs to have customised products that can go into a niche market. We need to explore the markets, understand the customer needs, not only come up with new products, but also innovate the process, the packaging and the whole supply chain.”
One of the challenging and daunting tasks in Sri Lanka is the inconsistent policies. Overnight the government publishes gazette notifications. Certain lobbies are gaining prominence and sometimes there are very ad hoc policy decisions, he stressed.
He also mentioned that since the second half of 2022, the government policies have been quite stable. “Now we see more industry participation and also the overall concerns have been heard. The IMF, World Bank and the UN are keeping a very close eye on the government’s policy decisions. Any government that comes forward next, must keep the policy consistency, and continue the fiscal policies,” he noted.
Serendib Flour Mills (SFML) has been commercially operating in Sri Lanka for the last 15 years and have invested more than US$ 130 million here. SFML launched its latest flour ‘Serendib Adhi Shakti Fortified Wheat Flour’ recently to the plantation sector workers who have a deficiency in iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid. There are about 1.1 million estate workers and the flour was introduced in Nuwara Eliya and Kandy at a reasonable price. “The flour is specifically designed for the estate workers and it’s given at a subsidised rate. The government of Sri Lanka is also focusing on the fortification and the nourishment of estate workers.”
With around 35 per cent market share in Sri Lanka today the company produces more than 26 types of flour that caters to a niche segment of food chains that purchases SFML customised specialized products. The company’s mill at the Colombo Port has the best-in-class milling technology and state-of-the-art laboratories inside the facility. Wheat is sourced from various countries, primarily from Europe, Canada, USA and Australia. Globally Russia is the largest exporter of wheat which amounts to 30 per cent of the global wheat export while the global wheat trade is around 670 million metric tons.
Mr. Sharma also stated that SFML exports to other countries which is a typical part of the company portfolio. “We export value added flour and bran to the Maldives, Vietnam, Korea, Philippines, and Singapore. We are currently exploring the Malaysian market needs.”
He also highlighted, “One of the biggest testimonies of our contribution towards food security is that there were no queues for flour during the height of the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. SFML has a bigger role in terms of food security that, at any given point of time we secure more than three months of wheat grain.”
“We as an organisation are excited about Sri Lanka and we are looking at the opportunities in the food sector. We are also looking at the logical and organic extension of the current business in Sri Lanka. We are optimistic about Sri Lanka, we have faith in how the country rebounded from the crisis. This year the country’s economy will grow by 2 to 2.5 per cent and next year by 4 to 5 per cent. For Sri Lanka to accelerate the country needs about six per cent GDP growth,” noted Mr. Sharma.
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