Busan Chamber delegation here from June 10-12

Visit result of meeting with Prime Minister

COLOMBO: The trade and investment delegation from Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, South Korea will be in Sri Lanka from June 10 to 12.

The delegation will consist 39 members.

The delegation will be led by the Chamber's President Jung-taek Shin who was appointed to the post in March 2006. He is also Sri Lanka's Consul appointed in June 2006, selected for the post after an extensive survey and after consulting the South Korean Foreign Ministry. He is Chairman of a steel company.

The visit was the result of a luncheon meeting hosted by Shin in honour of Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake when the latter visited Busan in August last year to attend the regional ILO meeting on behalf of the President. During the discussion the Prime Minister suggested that the Busan Chamber could consider sending a business delegation to Sri Lanka in 2007 when the two countries would be celebrating 30 years of diplomatic relations. This proposal was accepted by Shin and the visit is a result of the Prime Minister's initiative.

The following will be discussed with the delegation when the business delegation calls on the President and Prime Minister, a release said.

New investment from Busan region. Sri Lanka would prefer small and medium sized industries. Korea was the largest foreign investor in Sri Lanka at one time.

Sri Lanka would like to increase exports to Korea - the balance of trade is in favour of Korea. Sri Lanka's two way trade is now around US$ 300 million dollars. Activated carbon, other coconut based products like cocopeat, tea and horticultural products have a good market in Korea. There are certain quarantine restrictions on fruit imports from Sri Lanka.

The Korean delegation can look into that. Sri Lankan fruits like pineapple, papaya and mangoes will have a good market in Korea if these restrictions can be eased.

More tourist traffic from Korea to Sri Lanka. Nearly 15 million Koreans travel abroad an year on recreational purposes and Sri Lanka gets about 7,000.

As Busan is a predominantly Buddhist area, cultural tourism can be encouraged. Sri Lanka also has good facilities for golf. Koreans should be encouraged to visit Sri Lanka on honeymoon. Sri Lanka should try to encourage a Korean airline like Korean Air to operate services to Sri Lanka. Korean Air operates services to India, Nepal and Myanmar which have close connections with Buddhism.

Sri Lanka has signed an MoU with the Korean Government for employment of Sri Lankans in Korea in manufacturing and agricultural sectors. These are so-called three D jobs-dirty, difficult and dangerous - but are paid well - over $ 700 a month minimum.

Though a quota has been given to Sri Lanka, the number of Sri Lankans selected for employment will depend on the choice of Korean companies. Korean companies that are members of the Chamber should be encouraged to recruit from Sri Lanka when they are looking for foreign workers.

During discussions Prime Minister had with the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Korea, an area they were interested in was to find out whether Sri Lanka could provide English educational facilities up to University level, comparable to that of the West. If so there will be plenty of Korean families ready to send their children to Sri Lanka for their education.

The Republic of Korea is advanced in the IT field. Sri Lankans should explore the possibility of obtaining training in IT for selected candidates.