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Leading News from Sri Lanka ::
Penalizing Sri Lanka on the Generalized System of Preferences plus (GSP +) in the present day political context in the country is a conspiracy that could be well understood, he said addressing the weekly press briefing at the Government Information Department today.
He pointed out that Sri Lanka's GSP utilization rate has increased from 42% in 2004, to 67% in 2007, However, during the period from 2005 to 2007, 50% of total exports to EU have been exported without claiming the GSP + benefit. In the case of apparel exports, over 40% have gone to EU without claiming GSP+.
Governor of Central Bank, Ajith Nivard Cabraal in an earlier occasion said the concessions due to the GSP+ last year was only Euro 78 million.
"If Sri Lanka loses GSP+ status, the county will fall under GSP General Arrangement. Therefore, if we are to challenge of losing GSP+ all what we should do is to look for an alternative market in addition to EU," Perera said. Enhance competitiveness and focus on specialize products, he added.
Sri Lanka's name brand garment products such as Marks & Spencer and Victoria's Secret will not lose the market niche even if the 10% concession is lost as those products are marketed for high-end customers, markets analysts say.
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Dec 24, Colombo: There was no valid reason for the European Union's to suspend the GSP+ privilege to Sri Lanka under the present situation in the country but the loss will not have a huge impact to the country, the Chairman of Sri Lanka Board of Investment (BOI) Dammika Perera said.