Golden era for trade and investment

Minister tells major Indian companies in New Delhi:

Recent developments in Sri Lanka provide Indian investors with a unique window of opportunity, Export Development and International Trade Minister G. L. Peiris said in New Delhi this week.

Addressing a gathering of leading American companies active in India at the official residence of Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in India, Romesh Jayasinghe, the event was attended by Ambassador Peter Burleigh Charge d'Affaires of the United States Embassy and Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in India Anjay Sinha.

Thirty two companies in a wide variety of fields of economic activity, including manufacturing, food processing, information technology, banking, railways and the energy sector participated.

"The final defeat of terrorism has removed the basic impediment which prevented Sri Lanka from achieving her full economic potential," Minister Peiris said. As President Mahinda Rajapaksa pointed out in his address to Parliament a few days ago, the writ of the Government elected by the people now runs throughout the country after many decades, he declared. Referring to the observation by India's incoming Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, that political stability has once again set India on the trajectory for growth and development, Prof. Peiris said that political stability, in an unparalleled degree, is Sri Lanka's principal asset today. "The outstanding calibre of the country's human resources, which is the result of sustained investment in education and health, offers a major incentive to investors. Motivation, discipline and efficiency have been the main ingredients of imaginative value addition, which has enabled Sri Lanka's industry to mitigate the effects of the global economic meltdown," the Minister said.

He made reference to social equity, especially in the context of Sri Lanka's apparel industry which, despite a hostile global environment, has achieved an increase in the volume of foreign exchange earnings.

Minister Peiris stressed the commitment of the apparel industry's leaders to the highest ethical standards in garment factories and meticulous adherence on their part to the most exacting environmental norms.