4ever Skin Naturals’ contribution to an export-oriented economy in Sri Lanka is vital, Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana said.
The recent launch of a brand-new line of products introduced under 4ever Skin Naturals (Pvt) Limited, which is considered to be one of Sri Lanka’s leading cosmetics companies as well as the largest cosmetics manufacturer in South Asia, took place under the patronage of Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana.
Derma Elite, an international skin care product, and Vigour O5, a hair shampoo, were launched.
4rever, which currently exports its products to 60 markets overseas, is also a company that makes a huge contribution to the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
On this occasion, the company launched the newly introduced products and launched the social media pages related to those products.
Minister Dr. Gunawardhana, who spoke as the chief guest of the event, said there are two main structural problems in Sri Lanka’s economy after Independence.
He said that the country faced and unsustainable state budget deficit related to public financial management. “For a long time, it was settled by borrowing both domestically and abroad. There was a shortage of foreign exchange required for importing goods. Usually more than US$ 20 billion worth of goods are imported into this country. It is impossible to spend twice the amount earned through agricultural, industrial and mineral exports in this country which is about US$ 10 billion. Therefore, in order to cover the current account deficit, every government had to obtain loans,” the Minister said.
He said the rupee has collapsed due to the inability to repay the loans due to long-term borrowing. “At the time of Independence, Rs 4.54 was paid for a US dollar. By November 15, 1977, Rs. 8 was paid per dollar. From midnight that day, under the open economy, the dollar was equal to Rs. 16. From that day, a floating exchange rate system was established,” he said.
Minister Dr. Gunawardhana said that during the time of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, one dollar reached Rs. 105. By the end of the war, Rs. 131 was paid per the US dollar. After that, during the great economic crisis at the time of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the country faced a lot of problems in the form of lack of foreign reserves, inability to export fuel, gas, medicine, etc. and the country had to face numerous problems.
By that time, the dollar had risen to around Rs. 420. The country’s politicians were not able to solve this crisis. It can be achieved by developing the production process as much as possible and reducing the number of imports, the Minister said.
Then the amount of foreign exchange flowing out of the country will be reduced. More and more products that can be popular in the foreign market should be produced and exported. Then the amount of foreign exchange flowing into the country increases and the rupee strengthens. So far, the rupee has become stronger than it was in 2022. Currently, about Rs. 300 is paid per US dollar.
If we maintain a one percent deficit in the current account of the balance of payments through further growth of exports and reduction of imports, we can reach the level of a developed country by 2042-2048. 4ever can also contribute in two ways to carry out that task. Especially, a huge amount of beauty products is imported to this country every year. For that, a large amount of foreign exchange is drawn out of the country, the Minister said.
As an alternative, the special exchange amount can be saved by producing high-quality products in this country that can compete with leading foreign brands. The country can earn a large amount of foreign exchange by making and exporting new products using the natural raw materials of this country. Neighbouring India like Sri Lanka earns a huge amount of foreign exchange by making Ayurvedic products, Minister Dr. Gunawardhana said.
Also, by establishing joint ventures with international brands, the leading companies of this country can use the resources of this country and offer developed products to the Western countries. Foreign direct investment is very important for our country at this time especially. In 2022, the amount of foreign direct investment in Singapore was US$ 141 billion. Last year, India received US$ 70 billion in foreign direct investment. US$ 28 billion to Vietnam. US$ 25 billion to Thailand. US$ 1 billion for Sri Lanka.
In such a situation, we should think about paying back the amount of foreign debt. By working more and more to change this situation, everyone should work to create a favourable impact on macroeconomic variables such as output income, employment, price level, balance of payments, savings, and investments in the country, Minister Dr. Gunawardhana said.
The head of 4ever Skin Naturals, veteran beautician Chandani Bandara, veteran beauticians Bernie Balasuriya, Harris Wijesinghe, Michael Wijesuriya, Ramzi Rahman, Senior Superintendent of Police Saman Jayalath and other guests as well as staff members of the company were present at this event.
Invitees at the launch.