Bank of Ceylon to offer line of credit:
Seychelles set to benefit from Lanka’s expertise in fisheries
Seychelles President James Michel with Dr. Gamini Wickramasinghe,
Chairman Bank of Ceylon and Ranjith Haputhanthri, AGM Overseas
Branches
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“Seychelles is set to benefit from Sri Lanka’s expertise in fisheries
and a possible line of credit from the Bank of Ceylon,” said Dr Gamini
Wickramasinghe, Chairman, Bank of Ceylon after meeting Seychelles
President James Michel at State House Seychelles last week during an
official visit to the country. He was accompanied by the bank’s
Assistant General Manager of Overseas Branches, Ranjith Haputhanthri.
Dr Wickramasinghe said he came to Seychelles at the invitation of
President Michel who in August made a state visit to Sri Lanka where he
visited the Colombo Dockyard and discussed various topics including
possibilities of cooperation with the dockyard to meet ever increasing
needs in the fields of shipbuilding and ship repair in Seychelles.
“We are here to see how we could help Seychelles, firstly in the
fisheries sector and secondly in tourism. We will be doing a feasibility
study and assess the business potential Seychelles can have with Sri
Lanka,” said Dr Wickramasinghe, who will be meeting some of the
country’s top officials there.
Dr Wickramasinghe said “there is a lot of room for financial
activities in this beautiful country.” He said Sri Lanka’s Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources Development Minister Rajitha Senaratne will be
visiting Seychelles in the coming weeks accompanied by other top
government officials to hold further discussions on cooperation in
fisheries, business development and education.
During President Michel’s August visit to Sri Lanka, the government
announced it would extend a credit line to Seychelles to use in trade
and commercial transactions with Sri Lanka, particularly in
boat-building ventures. Dr Wickramasinghe said that the Bank of Ceylon
will consider how it can help Seychelles in the fisheries and tourism
industries. He will also meet officials from the government to discuss
the terms of the line of credit.
He also said there will be a feasibility study to determine the
potential of the Bank of Ceylon operating in Seychelles. “We can see the
potential and the bank can join in the country’s development efforts. I
think we can mutually benefit from this,” Dr Wickramasinghe added. |