Customs-paperwork offices in the district towns, so the exporter does not travel to Colombo

A first step

Ask five exporters in one district town how many trips they make to Colombo each year to clear paperwork, and what each trip costs in fares, nights away and lost work. Then ask a licensed customs broker in Colombo whether they would take referrals, or open a desk, if you sent them regular clients. The proof is five exporters who would pay a fee to stop travelling.

Who pays first

A small district exporter who loses days to Colombo trips for paperwork and would pay a local fee to have it handled nearby.

What leaves today

Distance from the paperwork pushes small exporters to sell through Colombo middlemen; a local brokerage lets them ship under their own name.

The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.

The test

Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?

The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.

In the book

• Ch. TwoAn Island Nobody Has Counted
  The harbour on the main sea lane
• Ch. FourteenThe List
  Defend the port before expanding it

More from cluster 22

• 426Motorbike courier networks in the districts for the small exporters' parcels
• 427Shared depots where twenty producers fill one container
• 428Refrigerated three-wheelers for the fish and dairy trades
• 429Tourist shuttle services on fixed routes and published timetables between the sites
• 430Airport transfer companies with drivers trained, insured and rated
• 431Luggage-forwarding for tourists, so they can walk the hills and meet their bags at the coast

All 10 ideas in this cluster