Budget 2027 allocates Rs 1,990 million for a National Single Trade Window

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, presenting Budget 2027 this afternoon, allocated Rs. 1,990 million to establish a National Single Trade Window, according to Newswire’s live updates, which logged the line at 2:40 PM Asia/Colombo on 12 November 2026. The official speech confirms the Rs. 1,990 million figure. The same passage records Rs. 100 million for a National Single Window for Investment, covered in a companion post.

Seven minutes later, Newswire reported a separate proposal to modernise duty-concession clearance for goods imported for export. The official speech names this as modernizing the existing “Temporary Importation for Export Processing” (TIEP) process, “in order to introduce ‘inter-port trading’ mechanisms and to direct small and medium-scale industrialists towards exports.”

Daily Mirror’s live blog also used Rs. 1,990 million and described it as a “single-window system for importers and exporters.” Daily FT rounded the same allocation to “Rs. 2 billion.” The official text uses the unrounded Rs. 1,990 million.

What was announced — and what was already live

A national single trade window is meant to let businesses lodge trade documents once, instead of repeating filings across Customs, ports and other agencies. Sri Lanka already switched one on. On 5 November 2026, a private exporter filed the first Customs Declaration through OneTRADE, the National Single Window for Trade, according to a Daily FT report dated 7 November, citing the Finance Ministry.

That first phase is limited to tea and coconut exports. The Treasury said other sectors would be admitted “in the near future” once the system was refined; no date was given. The portal is a joint initiative of the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Digital Economy and GovTech Sri Lanka Ltd.

The official speech is more precise than an allocation “for the establishment” of a new window. It says the National Single Window for Trade “has been launched as a pilot project from the fifth of this month for the export of several selected goods,” and “is expected to connect exporters as the first phase in the first half of 2027, and importers and re-exports in the second half of 2027. Rs. 1,990 million has been allocated for this purpose.” That matches the 5 November OneTRADE launch, and adds a timetable Daily FT’s earlier report did not have. It still does not say, item by item, what the Rs. 1,990 million will pay for.

The TIEP modernisation carries no amount, start date or responsible agency. It is aimed at small and medium-scale industrialists that import goods in order to export, not at software or IT/BPO firms that do not move physical goods through Customs.

Who it affects

Tea and coconut exporters already able to use OneTRADE should watch for refinements rather than a second launch. Other goods exporters still filing the old way now have an official first-half-2027 window for exporter connections, though a product-by-product onboarding list was not given. Importers are officially scheduled for the second half of 2027. SME manufacturers that import inputs under duty concession are the intended audience for the clearance modernisation. Founders in software, IT/BPO and other digital services are not, on today’s wording, covered by this package.

What founders should do next

If you export tea or coconut, use OneTRADE if you have not already, and note where the process still breaks. If you export other goods, or import inputs for export, do not change your clearance process on this afternoon’s wording — wait for a Customs or Treasury circular that names the procedures and the sectors in scope. If duty-concession delays are already a cost, document the current timeline so you can tell whether any modernisation helps. The official speech is on the Treasury site. Parliament’s timetable has the second-reading vote at 6:00 PM on 20 November and the third-reading vote at 6:00 PM on 14 December (Parliament news, 11 November 2026).

What we still don’t know

We do not know, item by item, what the Rs. 1,990 million pays for, or the product-by-product order in which exporters will be added in the first half of 2027. We also do not know what the TIEP “inter-port trading” mechanisms will be, or when that modernisation starts. Written after the official English speech PDF was opened on 12 November 2026.

Sources opened on 12 November 2026, and checked against the official Budget Speech 2027 PDF on treasury.gov.lk (https://www.treasury.gov.lk/web/budget-speeches/section/2027; file https://www.treasury.gov.lk/api/file/ea495202-fcb1-4c78-b34e-58389cb20738), English text printed pages 13–14. Not legal or customs advice. Live-blog wording is retained where it differs.