Indian CEOs in India Sri Lanka Society to promote investments into Sri Lanka
Daily FT: Members of the Sri Lanka India Society comprising Indian CEOs yesterday assured Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to promote further Indian investments as the time is ripe for expanding collaboration in several sectors.
This was conveyed when a delegation from the Sri Lanka India Society paid a courtesy call on the Premier to discuss ways and means of expanding bilateral economic ties including trade and investment.
The Prime Minister, pointing out the growth in Government-to-Government development cooperation, thanked the Indian CEOS for their efforts to promote private sector Indian investments.
Sri Lanka India Society President and Platinum Realty Investments Managing Director Kishore Reddy said there is enormous potential for investments in the agriculture, tourism, information technology, renewable energy, and education sectors.
As Sri Lanka has emerged out of the recent economic crisis and restored stability, it is still a good time to invest as there is an enormous scope for foreign direct investment in a host of sectors, such as manufacture of automobile accessories, value addition to mineral sands, agriculture products such as manufacture of tomato puree, dairy industry through expansion of farmer cooperatives in addition to information technology, tourism, and renewable energy.
Past President T.S. Prakash said Sri Lanka could expand the dairy sector taking lessons from the success story of Amul in India by using farmer cooperatives for production and collection of milk.
The Indian CEOs, referring to their experience of doing business in Sri Lanka for decades, said that entrepreneurs in Indian states are willing to invest in Sri Lanka to manufacture products for the huge Indian market.
Reddy thanked the Prime Minister for the continuous support extended to the India Sri Lanka Society for its activities to promote cooperation between the two countries.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka and India enjoy strong bilateral, business and trade ties that have been further strengthened by an operational free trade agreement (FTA). India is also a key development partner of Sri Lanka with many funding lines and investments in the country’s key development projects covering all key economic sectors. Many Indian businesses have also set up operations in Sri Lanka and have recorded growth and profits. With Sri Lanka working towards becoming an emerging business destination in the South Asian region, there’s bound to be an expansion in business/investment opportunities in the country. Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean and the many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed by the country have also helped boost the business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka. Given the growing business potential in Sri Lanka and the priority status enjoyed by Indian businesses in Sri Lanka, Indian businesses/investors could confidently explore the growing opportunities in Sri Lanka. They could also look at forming partnerships or joint ventures with local businesses with the aim of further expansion.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20230922/Z_1 |