Minister Sabry exposes anaemic export growth with imprecise numbers

Minister Ali Sabry argues that Bangladesh and Vietnam’s economies have outpaced Sri Lanka’s since 1991, driven by growth in exports. To support his argument, he cites export figures for all three countries from 1991, and 2023. The figures show that increase in exports in Bangladesh and Vietnam were orders of magnitude higher than that of Sri Lanka.
To verify the claim, FactCheck.lk refers to the export, import, and GDP growth statistics reported by the World Bank (WB).
FactCheck.lk found discrepancies in five of the six numbers cited by the minister. 

In 1991, the WB reported Bangladesh’s export figure as USD 2.1 billion, not USD 2.2 billion, and Sri Lanka’s export figure as USD 2.6 billion, not USD 2.8 billion. However, the WB data tallied with the USD 3 billion cited by the minister for Vietnam.
Likewise, in 2023 (latest available data), the WB reported Bangladesh’s export figure as USD 58 billion, not USD 87 billion; Sri Lanka’s export figure as USD 17 billion, not USD 16 billion; and Vietnam’s export figure as USD 374 billion, not USD 464 billion.
Nevertheless, focusing on the larger claim of the minister, the facts show that all three countries had exports below USD 3 billion in 1991. By 2024 (end 2023), Sri Lanka’s exports grew only seven times, while Bangladesh’s exports grew by 28 times, and Vietnam’s exports grew by 126 times.
Therefore, while many of the minister’s figures have discrepancies—some of them quite large—the corrected figures still support the minister’s overall claim: the export growth in Bangladesh and Vietnam between 1991 and 2023 was several orders of magnitude larger than Sri Lanka.
Therefore, we classify the minister’s statement as PARTLY TRUE.
*FactCheck.lk’s verdict is based on the most recent information that is publicly accessible. As with every fact check, if new information becomes available, FactCheck.lk will revisit the assessment.

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