The Centre of Enterprise Development (CED) will be conducting an online workshop titled “Import Procedure” on 19 June, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. via Zoom. The workshop will be conducted by the Managing Director for Centre of Enterprise Development and Education (Pvt.) Ltd. Shehan Perera.
Speaking to Brunch, Perera shared with us what audiences can expect from the program and why CED believes that these current times are ideal for entrepreneurs to take their next step in expanding their businesses and to look beyond their comfort zones.
Perera is currently the Managing Director of two other companies; Exito Global Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd. and Exito Corporate Services (Pvt.) Ltd. He is a graduate in entrepreneurship, and has a B.Sc. Management (Entrepreneurship Special) from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, where he was a former visiting lecturer. He was also awarded the ICASL prize.
He shared that the CED’s primary focus is on the enterprise development in Sri Lanka, stating that there is a need for education on how one can become an entrepreneur and they wish to provide comprehensive guides to those who wish to enter the industry.
He said that the CED facilitates a number of workshops, not limited to import procedure, adding that they have workshops for numerous areas imperative for enterprise development including export procedure, business plan preparation, internet intermediate trade, investing in share market (ft CSE), ecommerce web development and also social media marketing.
As for the session scheduled for 19 June, Perera commented that they do not limit the participants to certain categories and welcome anyone who is interested to learn. They will be providing reading materials and a certificate at the end of the session. He shared that the full day workshop will be conducted to cater to both ends of the spectrum and therefore if you are a beginner yourself, then you are most definitely going to benefit and there is no prerequisite of any entrepreneurial experience to participate in the workshop. 
For participants, they can expect the following topics of discussion to be addressed; how to find suppliers and the factors to be considered; Perera shared that this is one of the primary elements where beginners face challenges.
Further he stated that they will discuss the import process in Sri Lanka which will also take them to assessing the involvement for Sri Lanka Customs and Sri Lanka Ports Authority, license and permit requirements, documents related to imports, certification and test report requirements.
Perera also shared that they will be discussing areas like involvement of the freight forwarder, applicable taxes and duties and the way of calculating these numbers, which is something that often tends to confuse many as it is a very niche area and something that is less discussed openly. Finally, they will also discuss INCOTERMS, which is International Commercial Terms and also Methods of Payments Settlements.
He also stated that if you are unable to attend these live sessions, the CED has made it so that all the courses that are under their programme will be available in the format of a recorded video. Therefore even if you are unable to access the live stream, you can access at a later date and learn the subject. Additionally, CED plans to introduce certificate courses for participants, which will be available soon. He also shared that they have another platform in the works for Sri Lanka exporters.
Date: 19 June 2021, Saturday
Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Via: Zoom
Fee: Rs. 2,000
Website: www.ced.lk
Website: www.g.page/cedsrilanka
Facebook: @cedsrilanka
