Lanka- Bahrain JBC to exploit double taxation agreement

Ravi LADDUWAHETTY

The Sri Lanka- Bahrain Joint Business Council will be launched later this month and will bolster the trade relation between the two countries.

The Sri Lanka Bahrain Joint Business Council which will be formed under the aegis of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka and will have ten members on each side.

Both sides will be visiting each other on a reciprocal basis, FCCISL Past President Kosala Wickremanayake told Daily News Business yesterday.

The Sri Lankan side will concentrate on bringing investors from Bahrain in the arenas of hotels and tourism infrastructure, agriculture and agribased industry, development of small and medium scale industries, education and healthcare and a host of others while the Bahrain side will promote the export of Sri Lankan teas, employment of skilled professionals such as accountants and others in the arena of construction etc, he said.

This follows the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Bahrain Chamber of Commerce Chairman Dr. Essam Abdullah Fakro and FCCISL Chairman Kosala Wickremanayake for the establishment of the JBC.

"One of the further areas that could be looked at with the development of business with Bahrain is the possible export to the US market, given the string relations that Bahrain has with the US," he said.