More than 1,000 new exporters have joined Sri Lanka’s export sector, according to the Export Development Board (EDB).
EDB Chairman Mangala Wijesinghe said training programmes to convert entrepreneurs into exporters are being run on a continuous basis, and that the primary focus of the effort is on small and medium-scale exporters.
The board did not publish a breakdown of the new entrants by sector, nor the export value they account for.
The disclosure fits a broader push to widen Sri Lanka’s exporter base rather than rely on a concentrated group of large shippers. The country’s export earnings have historically been dominated by apparel, tea and rubber, and successive policy documents have identified diversification — both in products and in the number of firms shipping abroad — as a structural weakness.
That aim is central to the National Export Development Plan 2026–2030, presented to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in June, which targets US$ 36 billion in export revenue by 2030. The plan pairs cross-cutting work on trade facilitation, trade finance, market access and skills with eight priority sectors picked for diversification and value addition, including auto components, marine-based industries, digital products and processed food.
Wijesinghe said in June that exports grew six percent in the first four months of 2026 against the same period a year earlier, despite drag from the Middle East conflict, putting a second consecutive record year within reach.
Bringing smaller firms into direct exporting is generally slower to show up in earnings data than growth from established shippers, since new entrants typically start with low volumes while they build buyer relationships and meet compliance requirements in destination markets.
