Indian Minister tells investors :

Promote Lanka as destination

Indian Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiaditya Schindia said Sri Lanka should liaise with both Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to promote Sri Lanka as a destination for Indian investors. He suggested that these organisations could be requested to do a comparative study on the advantages that Sri Lanka offers in the field of investment promotion.

Investment Promotion Minister Navin Dissanayake met the Indian Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and held discussion soon after the Investment Promotion seminar had on September 14 in Taj Palace Hotel, India.

Dissanayake explained to the Indian Minister the reasons behind the decision to withdraw the land allocation to Mahindra Group in an earlier occasional said a better piece of land would be given to them should they decide to come back for investment in Sri Lanka. Dissanayake also requested the Indian Minister to carry the message to Mahindra Group accordingly.

Minister Dissanayake also briefed the Indian Minister on the developments in Sri Lanka and the Government’s commitment to find a lasting political solution to the ethnic issue.

He said Sri Lanka understood India’s concerns in this regard. He briefed the Indian Minister on the development work being carried out in the North and East and informed that there were already some projects being carried out in collaboration with Indian companies in the power sector.

He stressed the importance for young politicians from Sri Lanka to nurture close relationship with those in India particularly, young politicians from the Congress Party. While agreeing, Minister Schindia said that the Congress Party was going from strength to strength and the BJP was further disintegrating. He, however, believed that the disintegration of the BJP is undesirable since a strong opposition is a must in a healthy democracy.

Minister Dissanayake extended an invitation to Minister Schindia to lead a delegation to Sri Lanka and also to deliver the inaugural Gamini Dissanayake Memorial Oration early next year, the Indian Minister welcomed the suggestion and indicated that January or February 2010 would be suitable for him to visit Sri Lanka for both purposes.