Canada urged to invest in Lanka

Joanne Lee-YOUNG

OTTAWA: A host of Canadian organisations lined up with others from around the world to help Sri Lanka get back on its feet after the devastating tsunami of December 2004 wreaked unprecedented socio-economic crisis there.

But while other countries have moved quickly from offering development aid to tapping business opportunities there, Canada for the most part has not, said W.J.S. Karunaratne, the Ottawa-based High Commissioner for Sri Lanka, in a wide-ranging interview with The Vancouver Sun on Tuesday.

“Compared to other countries in Asia and the European Union and the U.K., investment from Canada in Sri Lanka is not very high. Trade turnover between the two countries is only about $300 million to $400 million a year and there is much scope for expansion.”

Karunaratne is currently leading a trade delegation across Alberta and B.C., visiting with government officials and industry leaders in Calgary and Vancouver to drum up interest in Sri Lanka as a gateway for trade to India.

“This is a first step. In North America, we don’t have awareness of Sri Lanka because it is very far away,” said Frank Borowicz, the Vancouver-based honourary consul for Sri Lanka and a former chairman of the Vancouver Board of Trade.

But, “it is a hub” where supply chains for various industries — including apparel production and offshore call centres — cross.

As Canadian businesses “look for emerging, dynamic economies, they should also look to diversify via Sri Lanka. ... We have free-trade agreements with India and Pakistan. Outside investors can use Sri Lanka as a base for exporting items to both places.”

Malaysia is currently the largest foreign investor in Sri Lanka, followed by Japan. Since the tsunami, China has been making gains on Japan, significantly churning money into Sri Lanka by investing in road and port expansion projects, said Karunaratne.

While the country has made more international headlines for political turmoil than investment opportunities, Karunaratne said that violence in Sri Lanka associated with separatist groups has been isolated. “In spite of various problems, the economy has been growing at five to six per cent a year. In 2006, the rate was 7.4 per cent.”

He hopes to organise a trade delegation of businesses from B.C. that will visit Sri Lanka next February.

One area that is already drawing keen interest from businesses in both Alberta and B.C. is the availability of workers from Sri Lanka.

“We have a vast pool of trained human resources, both skilled and unskilled, with various levels of skills. For certain trades, certification would be less of a problem, but with some, we would have to undertake certification in [Sri Lanka] or provide on-the-job training in B.C.,” said Karunaratne.

“With the help of businesses and employers in various sectors, restaurants, tourism, construction, other technical fields, we would like to take up the matter with provincial authorities and sign some kind of memorandum of understanding in due course.”