Lanka offers excellent business opportunities

The Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) organized a Roundtable Discussion titled "India-Sri Lanka Economic Relations" on June 10 in New Delhi on the occasion of the State Visit to India of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The members of the business delegation that accompanied the President and senior Sri Lankan officials participated at the discussion while representatives of some leading Indian companies and senior officials of the Commerce and Industry Ministry of India participated from the Indian side.

Stassen Group of Companies Chairman-cum-Managing Director and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Chairman DHS Jayawardane who headed the business delegation from Sri Lanka said for the first time in the last three decades the business environment in Sri Lanka was very conducive for trade and investment. The political stability in Sri Lanka and the commitment of the leadership provide the business communities of the two countries excellent conditions to work on the new ideas and explore the opportunities for trade, commerce and investment.

Co-operatives and Internal Trade Ministry of Sri Lanka Secretary Dr. Anura Siriwardena called for trade and invest with Sri Lanka to promote bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two nations. He said with the implementation of the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement between the two countries in 2000, bilateral trade has progressed considerably and the two sides must work to achieve a 'win-win' situation for mutual advantage in trade and business. The issues impeding the growth in exports or imports must be solved through bilateral talks, said Siriwardena.

Commerce Ministry of India Joint Secretary Arvind Mehta said investment was the growth driver for bilateral cooperation, but it was still a key challenge.

There are investment possibilities and the industries of the two sides should join together to work out proposals to set up businesses, he said. India's investment in the neighbouring countries has been far less in comparison to its investment in the far off countries beyond this region.

He said the Indian government was willing to extend support and mitigation packages to investors to cover the risk and credit line to expedite the investment.

He called for cooperation in jointly developing hydel and wind power resources in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka being a close neighbouring country, the excess power produced in the country could be traded with India through under sea cables.

NIIT Ltd Director P. Rajendran said Sri Lanka was an important neighbour and a valuable trade partner of India in South Asia.