Revitalization of industrial development in Sri Lanka

Dr. René van Berkel outlines the UNIDO Country Programme for Sri Lanka (2021-25)

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) recently commenced its 18M Euro Country Program for Sri Lanka, under the auspices of the Minister of Industries Hon. Wimal Weerawansa. At the signing ceremony Weerawansa expressed his appreciation to UNIDO for extending support to the Sri Lankan industries under UNIDO’s mission of promoting and accelerating inclusive and sustainable industrial development. The Secretary to the Ministry of Industries, Gen. Daya Ratnayake, signed the new Country Program on behalf of the Ministry, while Dr. Rene van Berkel, UNIDO Representative for Sri Lanka signed for UNIDO. Nawaz Rajabdeen, National Director of UNIDO’s Focal Point Office was also present at the occasion.

The ceremony was followed by the inaugural meeting of the Sri Lanka Joint Steering Committee for UNIDO’s country programme chaired by the Gen. Ratnayake and attended by representatives of relevant government and private sector stakeholder institutions. At the commencement Dr. van Berkel shared some highlights on Sri Lanka’s manufacturing sector review by UNIDO. While Sri Lanka has moved upward on the development ladder and is currently approaching upper middle-income graduation (99.1% of threshold), Manufacturing Value Added (MVA) in 2020 was 16%, whereas for example Indonesia achieves 20% and Thailand 26% therefore indicating a wide gap. Statistics also show limited diversification particularly in terms of exports and employment. The Medium and high-tech (MHT) is at a relatively low level in Sri Lanka at 7-8%, while it is up to 40% in other middle-income countries in South East Asia. However, these could also be seen as opportunities, pointed out Dr. van Berkel, who went on to share insights into the Country Program.

Sri Lanka is at 77th out of 131 indexed countries in UNIDO’s index for Sustainable Development Goal 9 on inclusive and sustainable industrialization. There is potential economic vulnerability arising out of early de-industrialization and limited diversification. Manufacturing growth in the country is seen hindered by lack of entrepreneurship, innovations, technology and management skills; low investor confidence; shortage of productive/skilled labour; limited diversification; and quality/trade access. This is a concern, as there is international consensus that the level of income must increase beyond a certain value before manufacturing can be decreased. This can be considered an economic vulnerability in terms of Sri Lanka.

Past UNIDO Assistance

In the recent past, UNIDO has worked mostly on the environmental domain and focused on hazardous chemicals. The focus later shifted to the quality infrastructure in Sri Lanka by improving and upgrading the operating procedures of different quality institutions, and how businesses need to be run with additional training and the building of competencies to improve national quality infrastructure (NQI).

UNIDO has also provided expertise to MSMEs in the food and spices sector, to improve their manufacturing practices, food quality, and food safety – which were highlighted as key areas of concern. An example would be the certification procedure for ‘Pure Ceylon Cinnamon’ for additional brand value. This certification is currently at the final stages of approval in the EU.

Another UNIDO project focused on bamboo, which is a natural solution against waterlogging. Bamboo is also a biomaterial that can be used for energy, and as an alternative to wood for handicrafts, furniture and household utensils. UNIDO assisted the bamboo sector in Sri Lanka by promoting better seedlings and carried out some work on setting up bamboo plantations and of a training and demonstration centre at the Industrial Development Board. Bamboo was seen to be particularly beneficial as an inter-crop in tea estates with many benefits including shade and improved agronomy of the plantations.

The upcoming UNIDO Country Program in Sri Lanka (2021-2025)

Objective of the UNIDO Country Programme is to provide a programming framework for identification, development and execution of catalytical technical cooperation services in the country. It is expected to achieve and sustain critical impact at scale through: Government co-ownership and inter-ministerial coordination; Focus on prioritized industrial sectors or areas matching country needs and UNIDO comparative advantages; Inclusion of policy advisory services; and Engagement and synergies with partner interventions to upscale results. It was noted that projects under the program depend on partners and the funds available.

The major thrust areas of the program include Industrial Development Policy, Value addition to produce and Solutions for climate resources.

1. Industrial Development Policy

For the industrial sector to grow, there must first be a consensus among the policymakers and key stakeholders on the priority actions. This emphasizes the need for industrial policymaking – which is a process, with specific instruments, building capabilities of institutions, delivery, monitoring, and evaluation, supported by industrial statistics and information that can made available. A public-private partnership would be essential, where the Government, chambers, and industry associations work together closely.

Under the policy, driving manufacturing excellence and entrepreneurship needs to be a top priority, where businesses are encouraged to be adopt modern management practices and capture business opportunities.

2. Value addition to produce

Sri Lanka is endowed with many natural resources ranging from fisheries, rubber, coconut, tea, etc., but the amount of value that is being generated is comparatively low, for both the domestic and international markets. Lack of sufficient advanced processing is seen as one key reason. Entrepreneurs need to recognize that there is an opportunity to make more money out of what is already available – by improving food safety, targeting the higher markets, and advanced processing – not forgetting the processing and quality infrastructure which also needs to be developed.

3. Solutions for climate and resources

This area basically deals with minimizing environmental impacts. Industries are the polluting agents and contribute to the climate problem, but they’re also an integral part of the climate solution. Eventually, businesses would need to come up with energy-efficient products. There is also a call to shift to source energy from renewable sources such as hydropower, wind, solar, bioenergy etc. The ultimate transition would be towards a Circular Economy -– changing the fundamental approach of taking things out of the environment, making things, using them, then throwing them away – which is a linear cycle. Instead, the Circular Economy defines the cycle as: take – make – use – reuse – recycle. In a circular economy, the waste is in fact being designed out. Hence zero waste – and zero recycling. It makes excellent economic sense in manufacturing terms too.

Opportunities for Sri Lanka

The Covid pandemic has caused a massive impact on the global manufacturing sector, and Sri Lanka is no exception. Businesses would now need to spend more attention on health and safety now than ever before. Accordingly, workplace practices would need to change to accommodate new health guidelines, and work procedures too will have to be adjusted.

Accelerated as a result of the pandemic, digitalization has been seen vigorously taking place around the world. For instance, payment and marketing are already digitalized by industries across the board. But the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) will create digitalization within the manufacturing process. It is envisaged that some activities would be taken over by robots, resulting in changes in jobs and skills requirements for us humans. If one does not respond to these changes – they would be left behind.

MSME energy efficiency is essential in certain sectors, such as the ceramics industry, which utilizes higher energy, amounting to over 50% of the total cost of the product. In such cases lowering the energy costs make huge economic sense. UNIDO has been involved in energy awareness raising for such industries. This means not just saving, where one feels good about it, but is actually saving energy and thereby contributing to the profit margin. Energy efficiency has huge economic benefits and therefor a sound economic perspective is essential when embracing the concept.

And as for alternate energy for MSMEs, UNIDO first recommends energy efficiency before moving onto alternate energy. Rationale is that it makes no sense to generate renewable energy if the business is not utilizing it efficiently in the first place. Hence, energy efficiency should fundamentally come first.

While investing in Renewable Energy (RE) is the way forward, the policy regime will have a direct bearing on investment decision. Another argument is that RE can be expensive, but there are ways of combining different technologies depending on finance agreements. For example, if the purchase agreements go for a long period, then RE service contracts can be included – if the scale justifies. Sri Lanka is a member of the International Solar Alliance. As such, it would be a good opportunity for Sri Lanka to promote solar energy and best practices and create an investment climate for solar power, which can bring back big dividends if approached the right way. International investors could also be potentially interested in such RE projects.