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| Tuesday, 30 March 2004 |
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FCCISL to sign MoU with Japanese Chamber The Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sri Lanka Business Council of Japan (SLBCJ) this year. According to senior Council member FCCISL and Chairman of the Uva Chamber, Ajith Wathuhewa the groundwork in this regard was laid at the recently concluded Kansai Small and Medium Sector Forum in Japan where an initial discussion and an agreement was signed leading to the proposed MoU. He said that there were no regular business links between the two countries and this tie up would fill a long void among the business community. The SLBCJ is keen to tie up with the FCCISL mainly due to its widespread regional Chamber network. The SLBCJ has indicated that the Japanese Small and Medium sector is keen in setting up joint ventures especially in the agriculture, herbal, horticulture, electronics, mini power generation, IT, gem and Jewellery sectors. Due to cheap electronic products freely available locally the Japanese hope to manufacture some products in Sri Lanka aiming at the South Asian market. The Japanese entrepreneurs are also keen on the local coir industry and are looking out for partners to manufacture value added products from this raw material in Sri Lanka. Japanese tourism is an area, which is highly underutilised mainly because lack of a proper marketing strategy. The Japanese tourists are not seasonal travellers as they travel all over the year. They are high spenders and the average stay is over 10 days. The Maldives is a popular Asian destination for most the Japanese tourists and if Sri Lanka could have a better marketing campaign in the Maldives Sri Lanka can be marketed in one package. The SLBCJ is hoping to explore this avenue as well. Another area that would be focused from the MoU would be to gain technology from Japan especially to the local electronic, agriculture, gem and jewellery sectors. He said that Sake is a very popular alcoholic beverage consumed in Japan and the Japanese are looking out to cultivate, Back Wheat, the basic raw material for the product, in Sri Lanka. The ideal climate for this crop is the Uva province and harvesting can be done thrice a year. "Most of the Back Wheat is now being imported from China. However the quality of the seed is not up to expectations," he said. He said that two representatives from the SLBCJ would be in Sri Lanka next month to finalise the MoU and fix a date to sign it. |
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