CNCI welcomes power, water, fuel and interest rate cost reductions
The Industries Sector welcomes the reduction of the cost of power, water, fuel and interest rates, said President elect of Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) Kevin Edwards at the 63rd AGM at Taj Samudra on Friday.
“We hope it moves further down further after September 21, 2024 Presidential elections and would be followed by a more business-friendly tax system.” He also opined that a business-friendly corporate tax structure too will always attract FDIs.
Edwards said that any government must take a very serious look at foreign currency earned and saved by the local manufactures and relief be granted to the local industrialists. There are several micro and small industries that are affected due to the economic crisis and we urge the government to take a serious look at this.
“To overcome this, the country also needs to implement a low-cost funding scheme, with a grace period to commence repayment with a minimum collateral requirement.”
He also revealed that the CNCI has communicated to the presidential candidates key points that need to be addressed in order to strengthen and safeguard all Industries in Sri Lanka.
“We will also forward budget proposals for 2025, from our membership to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance by end September 2024.”
As we all are aware, the most important event in the calendar of the CNCI is the “CNCI Achievers Awards 2024, For Business excellence, which is conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Industries, this event is scheduled for October 2024. He also said that the present import CESS that is imposed on certain products after careful study over a period of time to uphold local manufacturers should not be reduced or removed through Budget 2025 or beyond without consultation from local industry experts.
“Local industries which are having local value addition of more than 35% should be given protection when trade liberalisation programs are implemented.”
He also pointed out that Sri Lanka’s Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D is only around 0.13% of GDP (China – 2.4%, Thailand – 1.3% and Malaysia – 1%) and steps should be taken to increase this.
“We also propose to reduce corporate tax which is somewhat high to other countries from 30% to 20% for export businesses and manufacturing industries as this factor makes industries uncompetitive and also unattractive for export-oriented businesses.”
Many countries successfully utilize Development Banks to support their local industrialists to obtain funds at very nominal interest rates without any/limited collateral (i.e Industrial Development Bank of India).
“Hence we also proposed to establish a State Development Bank to support the Industrial Sector, similar to how NDB and DFCC operated before they were privatized.”
“Steps should be taken to implement a state-owned facility with reasonable rates for the incineration of industrial waste to promote environmentally friendly practices and efficient waste management.”
Introducing a fixed timeline for the approval processes to enhance efficiency and predictability for importing raw material and other activities carried out by several government institutions.”
As a safeguard measure, many countries now regulate imports by introducing compliances and strict quality control systems by imposing certifications from nominated testing institutions. “Such imports should be tested and approved by the Sri Lanka Standards Institute, prior to such imports released by the Sri Lanka Customs.”
The Future of the Sri Lankan Industrialist We see that the future of the Sri Lankan industries will be very competitive, where we will have to strive hard to be competitive in the world market. Secretary Ministry of Industries, Shantha Weerasinghe was the Chief Guest.
The post CNCI welcomes power, water, fuel and interest rate cost reductions appeared first on DailyNews.