Addressing fellow association members and guests at the 29th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Freight Forwarders’ Association (SLFFA), re-elected chairman Tony De Livera thanked the membership for their vote of confidence in re-electing him before going on to note that it has been one year since the country’s 26- year long conflict finally ended. “So how far has Sri Lanka progressed towards development?” he asked.

“It is visible that economic activity in the north is picking up and its communities are beginning to see the first signs of monies donated by international communities for reconstruction,” De Livera said. “It is heartening to see the much valued tourism industry being revived, which is helping to bolster livelihoods and offering hope to many people in this country.”

According to the Sri Lankan Tourism Development Authority, tourist arrivals grew by more than 50 per cent in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year. The rising number of tourist arrivals was primarily due to the improved security situation in the country, he noted, adding that both the UK and the US relaxed travel advisories to Sri Lanka.

The government of Sri Lanka also helped by relaxing travel restrictions to the previously conflict-affected north, offering similar opportunities to areas of the island nation once largely off-limits to outsiders and this resulting influx of local visitors to Jaffna — reportedly numbering in their thousands each week — has caused trade to pick-up in the region.

He went on to note that the Central Bank Annual Report indicates that the economy of Sri Lanka demonstrated its resilience by growing at 3.5 per cent in 2009 amidst most challenging domestic and external conditions and “this remarkable performance is mostly due to the end of the ethnic conflict,” he added.

De Livera urged the government to recognise the necessity of simultaneously ensuring the development of value added services related to the ports and airports, such as multi-country consolidation/ transhipment and distribution hub centres that provide a host of services such as pick and pack, restoration, repacking, sorting, etc. This has been a successful strategy for major cargo hubs like Singapore and Dubai, he said.

“The SLFFA through its commercial arm has already taken one small step in this area in the airport for the past 16 years and is very keen to work closely with government to help develop these value added areas,” he said. “Now that we are experiencing peace and stability, there is great opportunity and immense potential for growth in our country.”

De Livera also noted that while the US and European markets still have some way to go in recovering fully from last year’s global ec onomic recession “the SLFFA is concerned about potential adverse impacts that the withdrawal of GSP + would have on our customers and ultimately on our industry.”

The GSP is common shorthand for the “special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance” which is a preferential import regime for developing countries under the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).

The decision to temporarily withdraw, for six months, the GSP+ from Sri Lanka, by the EU, is based on the findings of an EU investigation that identified significant shortcomings in respect of Sri Lanka’s implementation of three UN human rights conventions.

“As an industry we would like to suggest that all stakeholders namely ports/airports/airline/shipping lines/ local transport and customs work together to ensure that costs are reduced which would help the garment industry to be able to still compete effectively, evenif GSP+ is withdrawn,” De Livera said.