Archives

Chamber of Commerce hails Norwegian initiatives

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has written to the Norwegian Ambassador Jon Westborg applauding the initiatives of the Norwegian Government on facilitating a negotiated ceasefire. The Chamber Chairman Chandra Jayaratne has also urged the Ambassador to help the Chamber to review and develop the report compiled by the Chamber on the opportunities to exploit the resources of the sea with the assistance of NORAD and Embassy facilitation. The letter states:

"On behalf of the Committee and Secretariat of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, it is my privilege to congratulate you, your colleagues and the Royal Norwegian Government on successfully facilitating a negotiated ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam."

"We applaud your initiatives, commitment and independent facilitative role in bringing about the ceasefire. It is our fervent hope that in the months ahead with your facilitation and continuing commitment we will be able to witness an acceptable solution to this long-standing conflict which will then lead to economic prosperity for the nation and its people."

"You will note from the submissions made by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce to the new Government under the leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe, titled "Strategies for leveraging growth through the private sector', a copy of which is enclosed that we consider the resolution of the North-East conflict, ethnic crisis and the war in the North as fundamental to economic growth with the private sector as the key catalyst."

"You will also note from our submissions that the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce lays high emphasis on the effective utilisation of the resources of the sea as a key element of the strategy for national economic growth."

"The Economic Intelligence Unit of the Chamber hopes to complete in draft an outline report on the opportunities for effective utilisation of the resources of the sea, which we hope to publish later in the year to attract foreign and local investments to exploit the niche opportunities of these resources."

"You may recollect a discussion we had with you early last year seeking your Government's facilitative support in compiling and publishing a more comprehensive note on the commercial opportunities to exploit the resources of the sea around Sri Lanka.

We would be grateful if professional resources from Norway facilitated through the Embassy or NORAD could review and develop our outline report to compile a more comprehensive and informative report for the benefit of potential investors, and entrepreneurs and policy makers."

"With the prospect of some of the restrictions for effective exploitation of the sea resources being relaxed and then removed in the months ahead, we believe that surfacing the opportunities for commercial exploitation of sea resources at this stage is crucial for future economic growth of Sri Lanka.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager