“Government optimistic of USD 18 Bn export target, USD 300 Bn economy”

^{December 30, 2025 Daily News Fizel Jabir}

Thilaka Jayasundara, Secretary to the Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneur Development presenting Certified Productivity Specialist certification to a recipient.Thilaka Jayasundara, Secretary to the Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneur Development presenting Certified Productivity Specialist certification to a recipient.

The government was optimistic in achieving the export target of USD 18 billion set in 2025 and creating a USD 300 billion economy by 2030, Thilaka Jayasundara, Secretary to the Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneur development opined.  She said against many challenges they were able to increase the export revenue by 8% this year and due to the disaster they expect a drop in about USD 100-200 million export revenue.

Jayasundara made these observations while participating in the first Certified Productivity Specialist (CPS) certification ceremony held after the National Productivity Secretariat was accredited as a Certification Body by the Asian Productivity Organization.

The Certification Body of the National Productivity Secretariat, which operates under the Ministry of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development to promote productivity consulting in the country with the aim of increasing productivity in Sri Lanka, awarded certificates to 9 Certified Productivity Specialists for 2025 and 34 people obtained the qualification of “Certified Productivity Professional of the National Productivity Secretariat,” yesterday.

The Secretary also said according to the data received to their database about 550 direct exporters have been affected by the cyclone and it was everyone’s responsibility to give a new leave of life to those exporters to restart exports. She said to overcome this situation and move forward, increasing productivity is the only option for Sri Lanka.

Jayasundara said Sri Lanka’s labour productivity is at a very low level and if one considers the agriculture or industry sector the country is at very low ebb and it is the same in most of the sectors. She said the country’s total factor productivity has a negative growth and the ministry has set six goals and the sixth is by 2030 to convert the factor productivity into a positive growth, at least a 3% growth which is not an easy tas

However she expressed optimism that they could achieve this target. She said ‘productivity is the attitude of mind’ and questioned in the past few decades whether the country was able to properly define the term productivity and insisted drastic change in mindset for the country to move forward.

She added that the only option to strengthen the Sri Lankan economy is to popularize the concept of productivity in every sector of Sri Lanka. Since the concept of productivity is the main arm that controls the economy, it is very important to create a culture of productivity in the country to achieve economic goals and move forward in global indicators, The National Productivity Secretariat, the premier government agency responsible for productivity promotion in Sri Lanka, acts as the representative agency of the Asian Productivity Organization (APO).

The APO Certification Body has introduced the “Asian Productivity Organization Certified Productivity Specialist” certification, which aims to raise the standard of productivity professionals in the region.

This recognizes individuals with high competence in productivity solutions such as consulting, training, promotion and research. Out of the 21 countries belonging to the APO, Sri Lanka is the 12th country to conduct this certification, while Malaysia, Vietnam, Mongolia, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Iran, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Bangladesh are currently implementing this certification.