Sri Lanka can be a gateway for exports to South Africa, a large market that has not being properly explored for Sri Lankan products, said the ecstatic Chairman of Ewis Colombo Ltd., a trailblazer in tech solutions, Sanjeewa Wickramanayake.
At the media briefing following the release the first container load of 1,000 laptops to Zimbabwe marking the company’s entry into the African market last week, Wickramanayake said Sri Lanka with a highly skilled workforce has all the wherewithal to overcome barriers in the export industry and capture new markets across any continent.
“Sri Lanka has invested a lot but there are no results. Assembling is the future. It’s time that everyone unites putting their best foot forward to lift the image of the country that was once admired by the world for its economic growth.
Singapore looked at us as a model in the early 1960s. We need to restore that lost image by being bold to take the first painful steps towards reaching excellence one day,” Wickramanayake said stressing that a journey that began the hard way with many headwinds is now bearing fruit .
However, he said what stands in the way preventing the country progressing is the attitude of the people, a low estimation of citizens by the lawmakers, policy instability and complexity of public administration.
Urging the new regime to look beyond the horizons and motivate people to unlock their potential, the e-wis chief said the company is looking at a shipment of around US$ 200,000 from its first export order and exports to the value of around US$ 1.1 million in the next six months.
The landmark event not only positions Sri Lanka as an emerging force in global IT hardware manufacturing but also highlights EWIS’s commitment to innovation, quality, and excellence on the international stage.
The shipment, dispatched from Ewis’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Sooriyawewa, underscores the company’s dedication to delivering world-class technology solutions.
E-wis has also received inquires for televisions and mobile phones from the African market.
It wants to consolidate its existing market first and then cater to the African market which comprises around 54 countries.
“We have not decided to set up operations outside Sri Lanka at the moment but would look at opportunities when they come in the future ,” Wickramanayake said.
E-wis, made waves at the Africa Tech Festival 2024, held from November 12th to 14th at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
The company set up the factory to manufacture electronic devices at Sooriyawewa in 2013.
