Czech trade delegation visits Sri Lanka

Czech Ambassador praises "Sri Lanka's investor friendly business environment":

A high-powered delegation from the Czech Republic visiting Sri Lanka called on Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Anura Priyadarshana Yapa. At the discussion that followed, the delegation expressed its interest in expanding the bilateral economic ties between Sri Lanka and the Czech Republic in the fields of trade and investment.

Czech Ambassador Dr. Hynek Kmonicek and Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa addressing the media.

Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Sri Lanka, resident in India Dr. Hynek Kmonicek headed the delegation, which consisted of 12 private sector representatives. Also representing Czech interests was Consul of the Czech Republic in Sri Lanka Jayantha Fernando. The BOI was represented by Executive Director (Promotion and Mega Projects) Shivan de Silva, Director (Promotion) Nilupul de Silva, and Director (Media and Publicity) Dilip S. Samarasinghe.

A major reason for this meeting was the interest expressed by the Czech delegation to play an active role in the reconstruction of Sri Lanka since the end of the conflict. At the same time was the realization on the part of both sides that the volume of bilateral trade between the two countries that stands at US$ 50 million should be further expanded. Also there is only one Czech company in Sri Lanka, engaged in IT and web designing operations.

The Czech Republic has an export-oriented economy and exports about US$ 130 billion worth of goods and services for a population of 10 million. The ambassador said this figure is just slightly less than India's total exports, for a population of a billion.

As her exports are essentially infrastructure-related goods and services, future investment to Sri Lanka would be essentially drawn from those sectors. Hence there is serious interest on the part of some members of the Czech delegation to participate in important Sri Lankan infrastructure projects such as the railways, the International Airport at Mattala, domestic airports, the Trincomalee Special Economic Zone and tourism projects in Kalpitiya.

Though a relatively small country, the Czech Republic is politically influential in Brussels as she just ended her term of the Presidency of the European Union, which is the world's largest trading block and Sri Lanka's main export market.

A major selling point for Sri Lanka, according to the Czech Ambassador is the island's compact size and "a predictable, business friendly investment environment". This makes Sri Lanka a potentially attractive destination to Czech and European Union investors who want to operate in a hassle free environment.

He said that unlike many other members of the European Union, the Czech Republic's economy remained vibrant and relatively unaffected by the current global economic crisis. This was because Czech banks remained strong and were not affected by the downturn. These banks would play an important role in funding Czech investment projects in Sri Lanka once they are established.

A unique project, which the delegation was keen to promote in Sri Lanka, was a mobile airport system. This versatile system that consists of five container type units can be installed at any airstrip to make it a functioning airport. It had been used by India when it hosted the last Commonwealth Games. Since this system is mobile, it can be moved around whenever there is a requirement.

Minister Yapa briefed the Czech delegation on the pressing need to upgrade the railways system, particularly to use transport as an instrument to bring the country together. "We are looking at developing the railways system from Elephant Pass to Jaffna," he said.

This was in response of the Ambassador's briefing him that in September 2009, an important Czech railways delegation will be visiting the island.

Another possible inflow of Czech investment was in upgrading Sri Lanka's oil refinery. Iran was going to finance 70 percent of the upgrading, but the Czech Republic is willing to finance the balance 30 percent through the provision of equipment on soft terms. In that connection the Ambassador said that much of the oil refinery technology of Iran was Czech, hence there would be no problem of compatibility.

Minister Yapa also told the Czech Republic delegation that Sri Lanka was looking at projects in township development.

This was vital at this stage due to the destruction resulting from the conflict. On the tourism front, the Czech delegation expressed interest in developing small hotels and one Delegate Company expressed interest in setting up a boutique hotel.

While in Colombo, the Czech delegation will also be meeting authorities from relevant state institutions such as the Tourism Development Authority, the Airport and Aviation Services and the Civil Aviation Authority and the Railways Department.