Floods threaten to derail fragile export recovery: NCE cautions
The local export fraternity, already steering through a delicate economic recovery, is now grappling with fresh disruption, with the floods across the island halting production cycles and threatening the country’s hard-won market access, the National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) cautioned yesterday.The chamber said the floods have knocked out factories, damaged equipment, blocked critical transport routes and stalled labour movement, risks that could quickly spiral into cancelled orders and weakened buyer confidence, if left unaddressed. With the exports serving as the country’s primary engine for foreign exchange and a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of workers, the NCE stressed the gravity of the situation.“The export sector is the backbone of the economy and any extended interruption will have a serious impact on the overall stability,” NCE President Indhra Kaushal Rajapaksa said in a statement.“The exporters are facing severe uncertainty at a time when they are under immense pressure to meet the international commitments.”The exporters, particularly the SMEs and new entrants, are facing disproportionate strain, as many lack financial buffers to absorb the shocks of this magnitude. Several aspiring exporters affiliated with the chamber are yet to fully assess the damage to their facilities, with the early reports pointing to the flooded production floors, equipment failures and disrupted supply chains.The chamber has launched a rapid assessment, urging the member companies to report the operational losses and expected delays, so it can work with the relevant state agencies to coordinate emergency assistance. Rajapaksa noted that safeguarding the buyer confidence must be treated as an economic priority, warning that shipment delays could lead to long-term erosion of market share.NCE Secretary General and CEO Shiham Marikar called for urgent state collaboration to roll out both immediate and long-term measures, including financial relief, expedited repairs and facilitation for the exporters at risk of missing the delivery deadlines.“A swift, coordinated recovery plan is essential to ensure Sri Lanka does not lose its global competitiveness,” Marikar said. (SAA)
