A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR SRI LANKA TO
TRADE ITS WAY OUT OF DEBT
(Sri Lanka is in debt, it has a 5.5 Billion Dollar Trade Deficit with the rest of the world. It has to be admitted that this will take some months to pay off and only then, will we be able to face the world on equal terms.)
Sri Lanka must evaluate its opportunities and strengths, and seek opportunities which allow it to trade its way out of its balance of payments difficulties. It has all the opportunities of the tropical paradise that it is, also being the envy of the cooler, northern countries of the globe.
Sri Lanka has to identify goods and services available here that may be of interest to a suitably cash-endowed foreign buyer.
Sri Lanka needs to find trading partners, who possess both the necessary wherewithal and the desire to bring about trading to the satisfaction of all involved. Who can we partner with for trade?
An instant match springs to mind when I think of Russia. Russians suffers from a cold climate, but they have an enormous income from the sale of oil, gas and coal all around the world. President Vladimir Putin, being the astute politician and go-getter that he is, wants to raise the standard of living of long suffering RUSSIANS by importing quality goods, just as Saudi Arabia. So, there is an underlying desire for quality consumer goods in place in Russia..
Sri Lankans must think out what would or could sell well to long suffering Russians. There is a great demand for alcoholic drinks, but they have already, well-established products as they have many breweries and distilleries. Cuba, whose expertise and specialty is the famous HAVANA cigar, undoubtedly has the Russian market well supplied. But there is an opportunity for Sri Lanka to sell gift-packs of Liqueur chocolates. Sri Lanka has the most wonderful presentation packs, of good quality liqueur chocolates and these make ideal gifts. These can sell at half the price of European liqueur chocolates.
Russian railways have luxury services and placing gift packs for their affluent customers seems likely to be a very attractive proposition to them.
Giving Flowers by young men to their loved ones, I am informed, is considered bad luck in Russia. On the other hand, giving a presentation pack of Sri Lankan liqueur chocos, the best that money can buy, makes an ideal, perfect gift.
Suitably named “passion fruit” are packed with life-giving vitamins, and everybody needs these as part of a healthy diet. Russians would take little persuading to see the sense of that. The list of exportable tropical fruit which people living in cool climates would like, is considerable.
It must always be remembered that, although the Russian state is rich, most individual Russians live on quite meagre wages. This is where Sri Lanka’s costs of manufacture chime in, to make the idea of selling quality goods, including tropical fruit, at affordable prices to Russians, is quite an exciting proposition.
If our noble politicians would help solve our balance of payments problems by such efforts in marketing and exporting of Sri Lankan products, they would gain the admiration of their hard pressed voters.
P.H. Kandy. 12/11/2021