The Hon. Sunil Handunnetti - Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development

¶ 01 Hon. Chairman, two Ministries’ Heads are under debate today. I will use part of my time to address our Ministry’s work.

¶ 02 As per the National People’s Power Government’s policy statement, our core mission is to revive the productive economy of Sri Lanka, broad-base participation, and ensure fair distribution of benefits. Our primary target is to expand production. After 76 years of unbalanced development, our economy fell into negative territory with unsustainable debt, culminating in inability to service obligations.

¶ 03 Therefore, our focus is to re-energize the productive economy, increase the industrial sector’s contribution, and, through identified industries, grow exports to strengthen the external account and address the dollar shortage. We aim to move from a US$16 billion export economy to US$19 billion this year, and target US$28 billion in industrial exports by 2030.

¶ 04 Key constraints include land—industrial and enterprise land availability is very limited, especially in Western and North-Western Provinces. Currently, land dedicated to industry/entrepreneurship is about 0.01 percent; our goal is to raise this to at least 1 percent by 2030, noting international benchmarks suggest a minimum of around 3 percent. We have discussed with the President to allocate identified non-agricultural lands for industrial purposes.

¶ 05 We are also pursuing an “entrepreneurship drive.” We have requested the Education Minister to include entrepreneurship as a subject in the curriculum after Grade 9 from next year. Not every youth will get a government job; we must integrate them into the economy as entrepreneurs and industrialists.

¶ 06 New and emerging sectors: vehicle component manufacturing has newly developed since import restrictions—now about 17 firms operate not just assembling, but manufacturing components. Iron and steel remain a major sector. Leather and footwear have reached international standards. Apparel continues to contribute significantly, and even in India’s vast market we retain niches—this potential can be further leveraged. Gem and jewellery, especially Ceylon blue sapphire, has strong global demand; we must strengthen certification and assurance.

¶ 07 For the first time, we have put in place a scientific, integrated support pathway within the Ministry—so that a jobless youth walking into a Divisional Secretariat can be guided to become an entrepreneur and eventually an exporter. Agencies—SME Development, National Enterprise Development Authority, Industrial Development Board, Export Development Board, the Textile and Apparel Institute, National Crafts Council, Laksala, etc.—are now coordinated instead of working in silos. We have re-established, after 28 years, a Cabinet Committee on Exports chaired with the President’s leadership, bringing together Agriculture, Plantation, Transport/Highways (for infrastructure), Finance and others to resolve bottlenecks.

¶ 08 At district level, alongside District Agriculture Committees, we are establishing District Industry Promotion Councils—already activated in Ratnapura, Hambantota, Matara, Galle. These councils convene Chambers of Commerce, banks, our agencies, Lands Ministry, LRC and others to take decisions conducive to industrial promotion. At divisional level, we are forming Industrial Committees.

¶ 09 We are also identifying new industries: event management is now recognized as an industry; film industry potential is significant given Sri Lanka’s natural diversity, but it needs to be structured as an industry rather than scattered under the film corporation alone. Likewise, beauty/cosmetics is expanding rapidly among youth—we now recognize it as an industry. We are building value-addition opportunities across such services and manufacturing where appropriate.

¶ 10 Past industrial policy lacked clear KPIs and targets; hence industry did not deliver its full potential to national income. Even the so-called open economy did not function properly if investors must spend 18 months to secure approvals. Therefore, through the Industrial Development Board we will establish incubator and facilitation centres in every province; and create start-up clusters—at least one per Divisional Secretariat—targeting 331 clusters that can generate about 15,000 new jobs, following models in India, China, Vietnam and South Korea.

¶ 11 We will continue on this path, reversing past priorities that favoured corruption and waste rather than production.