Meets business communities:

CCC delegation in India

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) Trade Fair Unit toured Cochin, Coimbatore, Pollachi and Chennai recently. The seven member delegation led by IFCO Chairman Sarath de Silva, comprised Anthon Trading Co (Pvt) Ltd., CEO/Managing Director Rensley Anthonymuthu, DSI Samson Group, Managing Director, D.K. Rajapaksa, Hands International (Pvt) Ltd., Research and Development Manager Rohan de Silva and Merchandiser Stefan Taylor, and Microcells (Pvt) Ltd., R. and D Head Indika Wijeratne. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce was represented by Consultant, Puvi Domingopillai.

The delegation met the business communities in Cochin, Coimbatore, Pollachi and Chennai through the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Cochin and Coimbatore, Kerala Chamber in Cochin, Pollachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and The Andhra Chamber of Commerce and India - ASEAN-Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Chennai.

The delegation met with over 75 organizations. Other than Chennai, this is the first occasion the CCC explored the cities of Cochin, Coimbatore and Pollachi, especially Polllachi which was an untapped area with great potential.

The Pollachi Chamber visited the CCC last year and the visit of this mission to Pollachi could be considered as a reciprocal mission. The visit of the CCC delegation was a landmark event for the Pollachi Chamber since this was the first overseas delegation to visit their Chamber.

This made a great impact on the Pollachi business community. The Pollachi Chamber President said that the presence of the CCC delegation offered a great opportunity to the Pollachi business community to have a direct dialogue.

The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President in Cochin expressed interest in entering into a MOU with the CCC which was welcomed by the CCC representative Puvi Domingopillai. She invited the ICCI to bring a reciprocal delegation to Sri Lanka.

The meetings in Chennai were attended by the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner V. Krishnamoorthy and the First Secretary (Commercial) Premathilake Jayakody. The Deputy High Commissioner in his presentation touched on the potential for expansion of trade and investment between Sri Lanka and India and gave an overview of the availability of business and investment opportunities in Sri Lanka.

The leader of the mission Sarath De Silva in his address highlighted the wide opportunities available in the North and East and briefed on the proposed developments which will take place.

He also spoke on the expansion of the Hambantota port which will also record a remarkable increase in the tourism sector.