Sri Lanka will soon bring anti-dumping laws to protect the local industries, said Chief of Staff to President Sagala Ratnayake at the Macktiles Lanka hosted event in Colombo yesterday.
Answering a query posed by Daily News Business he said that this is being done to create a level playing field with local manufacturers and importers. He said that they have received many representations in this regard and are currently working towards addressing this anti dumping issue. “Even in the future when FTA’s are formulated this factor would be a prime concern.”
He said that excluding the motor vehicle imports restrictions of all other imports have been lifted and many competitive products to local manufacturing are now entering the local market. He also said that the government knows that exports in other countries get preference and they are looking at offering some concessions for exporters in the future. Asked which FTA would come first he said that negotiations for both China and Thailand FTA’s are in progress. “We will also revisit the current Indian FTA.”
He also praised Macksons Tile Lanka (Macktiles) which is now turning out to be a major exporter of tiles. Managing Director of Macksons Holdings Mizver Makeen, said that the company has also set up several showrooms and offices in the Indo-Pacific and Persian-gulf regions to launch their next stage of expansion into international markets. Currently the company has established operations in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Maldives, Nigeria, Kenya, and the UAE.
“Our strategy is to take European standard tiles into these regions. We are also leveraging the Colombo port’s container handling capabilities and connectivity to bring the best value to our customers.”
The Managing Director adds that although most obstacles towards achieving and sustaining an iconic brand in tiles for the Sri Lankan market have been eliminated, there remains one factor that needs looking at i.e. clear and stable policies at government level in creating a level playing field for local tile manufacturers. “We are not asking for protection from foreign competitors, but we need assurances that foreign players will play by the rules of fairness.’
“There can be instances of unscrupulous exporters to Sri Lanka dumping consignments of tiles with the intention of destabilising the market, and therefore, a certain degree of regulation and collection of data is necessary. Data should be analysed with prevailing international market conditions by state agencies to support policy and law makers in making the right decisions to help local manufacturers who have saved more than USD 150 million outflow in foreign exchange during the import ban.”
He said that though locally their tiles are priced on a higher elevation due to this intentional quality and durability internationally their products are 15% cheaper than other international tiles. The quality of their product is derived from globally sought after Sri Lankan raw materials which make 85% of the tile. Macktiles, which made a Rs. 16 billion investment between 2020 and 2022, to upgrade their capacity says they are taking the initiative in making Sri Lankan tiles the next sought after iconic brand.
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