Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Presidential Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa has requested the business community to focus on value added exports to generate higher export revenue. “You must strive to add value to all goods exported from Sri Lanka to increase export revenue. For example, we must add value to our gems without exporting them raw. India imports gold worth billions of dollars from Dubai. They use that to produce jewelry which they re-export to Dubai, earning billions of dollars. We too can have these types of industries,” he said. Rajapaksa was addressing a Business Forum held at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Center (SLECC) in Colombo last week. He said that Sri Lanka could earn about 10 times the revenue it generates through mineral resources at present through value addition. He added that another way to increase revenue is by developing homegrown brands instead of foreign brands. “It is a similar situation with our plantation exports such as tea and cinnamon. If we package it well and sell it under our own brand name with a registered trademark we can generate higher revenue. Our apparel, although it is manufactured in Sri Lanka to international standards, goes to the global market under foreign brand names. In future we can earn more by selling it under our own brand name.”