Sri Lanka’s Minister for Industry and Commerce, Rishad Bathiyutheen, said the country is taking measures to minimise the impact of the global financial crisis and will look towards India and China to increase their export market, reported ColomboPage.

The country’s exports to its traditional markets in the West have been declining recently and the minister said the government would take efforts to open Asian markets for their products.

"We are not going to remain passive at a time when our export markets around the world turn more challenging due to the decline in leading segments and the downward revision of GDP projections for India and China.

"We are under no illusions that our exports will continue to be easy as the markets become increasingly difficult. In fact, we are taking active steps to safeguard our exports," the Minister said at an event promoting Sri Lanka's cinnamon exports.

The EU and the US make up 60% of Sri Lanka’s export market, but the global financial crisis has caused Sri Lanka’s export’s to drop by nearly 6% in the first eight months of this year, compared to last year.

In August alone exports earnings decreased by 13% and the income from the food sector shrunk by a massive 45%.