CII Excon 2007 Road Show in Colombo

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is organising Excon 2007, India's largest and only focused construction equipment and construction technology trade fair, in association with Indian Earthmoving and Construction Industry Association Ltd (IECIAL), at Bangalore to be held from November 14 to 18. This five-day exhibition is expected to attract 300 exhibitors and 55,000 business visitors across the globe.

Addressing a Road Show on Excon 2007 organised by the CII in association with Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), Minister for Construction and Engineering Services, Rajitha Senaratne, said that there is plenty of potential for expanding the bilateral trade between Sri Lanka and India.

"In order to exploit this potential, both countries need to look at broader areas for cooperation, including the construction sector," he said.

Minister Senaratne said under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India, Sri Lanka has tremendous potential to enhance its trade with India. Excon 2007 would give a fillip in enhancing the trade between the two countries especially in the construction equipment sector.

Chairman, EXCON 2007 and Managing Director and CEO, JCB

India Limited Vipin Sondhi, said, "Excon is Asia's third largest trade fair for equipment industry and amongst world's top ten construction equipment and construction technology trade fairs".

Besides showcasing world class products and services in the construction equipment sector, it would also demonstrate the technological prowess of the construction equipment industry.

Sondhi said that the Government of India has accorded top priority for the growth of infrastructure sector. "To achieve a new vision of growth, the Planning Commission, Government of India has estimated that the total investment in infrastructure has to increase from 4.5 per cent to around 7.5 per cent of the GDP in the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012). During the Eleventh Five Year Plan, projected investments of approx. US $ 475 billion has been envisaged in the Indian infrastructure sector.

This has led to the huge opportunities for private sector participation in the infrastructure development," he said.