Top German biz team to visit Colombo

For the first time, Sri Lanka has entered the serious Eurozone investment radar and a high profile German investor team would be heading to Colombo in August 2013 for an in-depth study of emerging opportunities in the country.

"Asia is the world's new economic tiger and Sri Lanka is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. We are planning to send a representative team in August to study emerging opportunities in Sri Lanka," said RA Ekkehard Stein, immediate past President of DAW German-Asian Business Circle (Deutsch-Asiatischer Wirtschaftskreis e. V) on February 25 in Frankfurt, Germany. Stein, a senior lawyer with Wiesbaden, Hesse based law firm Paule & Partner, was addressing 2013 DAW Asia Pacific Forum on 25 February at Maritim Hotel in Frankfurt, acknowledging the detailed keynote statement made by Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka at the Forum.

The Forum was organized and held by DAW German-Asian Business Circle.

According to DAW officials, DAW German-Asian Business Circle represents more than 1,900 top German firms operating in German industries and investments for decades.

They are one of the two most influential German-and by extension, in overall Eurozone- lobby groups focused on Asia with ability to influence German (and by extension, overall Eurozone) policy directions. The renowned Audi Group ($ 44,096 million turnover in 2011), EU logistics group Shenker (Euro 29 million turnover in 2011), Fraport AG (Frankfurt Airport Services, € 802 million turnover in 2011), are among the firms represented in DAW. Also for the first time in DAW series, Sri Lanka has been upgraded to a "representating country slot" alongside the only other Asian nation to be picked for this year, Vietnam. Signalling Sri Lanka's significance, this year's DAW Forum also featured a special 'Sri Lanka only' parallel session attended by keen German investors bullish on Sri Lanka. Bodo Kruger (President of DAW), Dr Vu Huy Hoang the Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade, Dr Naomi Chakwin (Resident Director General - ADB EU Rep office), Roland Schwinn (Executive Director - Asia & Middle East, Duetsche Borse Group, Florian Rentsch (Minister of Economics, State of Hesse, Prof Dr Eberhard Sandschneider, Director- DGAP, German Council of Foreing Relations, and Amb. Jurgen Weerth, former Ambassador of Germany ot Sri Lanka, Mark Orangel from Swiss Chamber of Commerce, Maria Deutsch from City Promotion Yokohoma, and Sarath Kongahage, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Germany, were in attendance. Among the Sri Lanka team members were reps from BoI, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Sri Lankas Consul General in Frankfurt Pradeep Jayewardene and Minister Commercial G. Gnanatheva. The keen German firms attending the Forum were Eurex Frankfurt AG, Duetsche Borse Group, IVP Group Germany GMBH, Asico Handels GMBH, MAZARS GMBH, Adam Opel AG, SWB GMBH, LUTHER LLP, and VietinBank, Rigging Service GMBH, among many others.

Germany is the leading EU investor in Sri Lanka. According to the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, more than 170 German investment projects are in operation in the country. Among leading German firms in Sri Lanka are BASF Finlay and Kramsky GMBH. German investments in Sri Lanka are protected by the bilateral Investment Protection Guarantee Agreement. Germany is Sri Lanka's sixth largest export partner in 2011. In 2012 bilateral trade stood at $ 771.69 million rising from $ 449 million in 2005 by 139%.

"Asia is a big market but a complex one. Asia is and will stay the fastest growing market for the German economy. DAW aims to create an information platform to enable German and European companies to get directly in touch with political leaders from Asian countries and to get first-hand details on latest developments there. Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam stood up in the last three years. Sri Lanka being one of fast growing countries in Asia, we are now planning to send a representative team in August to study new opportunities in the country,"added Stein.