Scope in agriculture, IT, travel, tourism:

Israel assures continued help

Ravi LADDUWAHETTY

Outgoing Israeli ambassador to New Delhi with accreditation to Colombo, Mark Sofer said yesterday that Israel would continue to impart assistance to Sri Lanka in high technology which would help the country in the post war rehabilitation.

There is tremendous scope in the areas of agriculture, information technology, travel and tourism and Israel is one of the foremost countries to have the right technology for Sri Lanka in its effort in the post rehabilitation phase, he told a selected group of senior journalists in what was his farewell interview after a four-year stint in Sri Lanka. One of the key areas in bilateral relations that Israel and Sri Lanka could develop would be in the arena of private-public sector partnerships in agriculture. Israel would be assisting Sri Lanka to enhance milk yields with the requisite technology with the already existing infrastructure.

"What we are advocating is not only Government to Government deals but also through the private sector deals between the two countries," Sofer said.

"We also have over 70 scholarships for Sri Lanka in the arenas of women's empowerment agriculture, business development and others and we give a large number of scholarships to Sri Lanka," he said.

"I have been in Sri Lanka at a time when bombs were exploding and we were there when Sri Lanka wanted us the most. We will also be there for Sri Lanka at a time when it is recovering from 30 years of conflict," he said, adding that Sri Lanka and Israel knew terrorism and its effect very well.

Sofer described mango and potatoe cultivation as one of the areas that Sri Lanka could develop which would be not only for the domestic but export market as well.

One of the major areas, he said, for which scope would be there was tourism, reminding that there were a large number of Israeli companies which were building resorts and spas in this country.

"In what was to be a major boost to Sri Lanka's tourism, Sri Lanka has been promoted as the most important destination for Israelis to visit. Every plane to Colombo has some Israeli tourist coming here," he said and confidently predicted that there would be a notable growth in that in the future.