Policy challengers: Where to start?

SRI Lanka's trade volume is virtually invisible when compared with the global scale or even the giants of Asia.

- By Ravi Perera

"He reached the utmost limit in knowledge"

- Medieval Arabic saying

In 2023, our total trade value was roughly $ 32 billion, of which exports were around $ 13.6 billion while imports were $17.6 billion, leaving the country with a deficit of about $ 4 billion.

Our main exports were tea, rubber, apparels and spices. The commercial plantations introduced during the colonial era remain vital for the economy, while the apparel industry which came in the late 1970s has become a mainstay of our industrial output. Known as a poor man's industry, apparels require a large labour pool, utilises basic technology, there are many competitors, and the margins are limited.

By way of comparison, our neighbour India has a trade volume of about 1.73 trillion (exports $ 820, imports $ 915 billion). It is distinctly embarrassing when we compare ourselves with tiny Singapore which has a trade volume of $ 1.23 trillion (exports $ 638 and imports $ 567 billion).

To round up, let us glance at much ravaged Cambodia, a country of 17 million people. It has a trade volume of $ 54 billion, exports 26 billion and imports 28 billion.

Our failure is gigantic indeed! In this dismal backdrop, my interest was piqued by a recent YouTube of a discussion with the title "policy challenges of globalisation in Sri Lanka". The title was from a book launched at that event by an economist by the name of Dr. Sarath Rajapathirana. The guest of honour at the event was former president Ranil Wickremesinghe. Clearly, both men are of advanced age; where other cultures consider senility, in our country this is the age of great wisdom.