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| Friday, 17 September 2004 |
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Netherlands funded TradeMap to enhance SMEs growth By Sudarshana Perera The Netherlands Government funded "Trademap and Product Map of Sri Lanka website" was inaugurated yesterday in Colombo to connect Sri Lanka's trade globally. The initiative marks a milestone between the healthy diplomatic relationship that Netherlands enjoys with Sri Lanka. The website www.trademap.org will allow Sri Lankan companies to build potential trade ties with worldwide companies and to pass on trade details of Sri Lanka's business to others. The Ambassador of the Netherlands, Mrs. Susan Th. Blankhart addressing the launch at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce yesterday said that access to important trade data and market intelligence through the Trade Map and Product Map in Sri Lanka will enhance the growth of Small and Medium enterprises in Sri Lanka as well as the country's ability to achieve its potential in the international market. Mrs. Blankhart said that the Sri Lankan government has indicated the important role that the private sector has to play in the future development of the country and the opportunities being provided to create sound public-private partnerships in which both partners should stimulate and encourage each other. "Hence we have decided to strengthen the capacity of the Chambers to enable them to make active commitments towards regional enterprise development and economic development in the country", she said. "We through our Ministry of Economic Affairs have launched programs which would provide incentives for the formation of joint ventures between Sri Lanka and Dutch enterprises and would provide Netherlands Management skills", she said. Speaking on the bilateral relationship, she said that the Dutch Government enriched its toolkit for Sri Lanka by signing a MoU on the program for co-operation with emerging markets (PSOM). These instruments are relevant also because there is a growing interest in the Netherlands business community to explore the business potential in Sri Lanka. "I am happy that the Government of the Netherlands has provided financial support for these two important source of data (TradeMap and Product Map) through the CIB, Centre for the promotion of imports from developing countries. CIB is a longstanding partner of the ITC (International Trade Centre) of UNCTAD/WTO and for quite a few years now, the Dutch government, through CBI has been supporting its activities in many developing countries. In 2004 around one million euros were allocated to the ITC by the Netherlands Government", she said. |
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