French investors assist local SME sector with new projects

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

INVESTMENT: A group of French Small and Medium Entrepreneurs involved in the automobile, technology and wine industry arrived in Sri Lanka last week.

They will explore possibilities of starting joint ventures and also contribute towards humanitarian projects in the South affected by the tsunami.

Vice President of Grand Lyon Alain Joly, the number one company in France for sub contracting said they see southern part of India and Sri Lanka as one big market. Therefore this visit will help them to improve business relationships with the SME sector of the two countries he said.

Several one-to-one business meetings were held in Colombo with respective companies during the week in Colombo.

Joly said that he is satisfied with the present investor climate in Sri Lanka. Vins Descombe, a 100 year-old well-known wine company, CPS Technologies specialist in supplying and personalising plastic cards with different technologies, Beauchamp specialist for automobile parts, were among the other companies. The French investors have been investing in Sri Lanka for the past five years. Over 50 local companies have been visited by this French delegation.

The delegation will provide two water purification plants to the Walasmulla and Tangalle hospitals at a cost of 100 million Euros. They win also assist a programme to train 500 masons in Balapitiya. The programme will commence today.

Managing Director Investor Services Asia (ISA) Tima Lazarus said that more investors would be arriving in Sri Lanka to explore the investment potential in the country.