Sri Lanka’s CCC signs MoU with CCIC of Nepal to promote trade, investments and tourism
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) of Sri Lanka has reportedly entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chitwan (CCIC) of Nepal in order to further promote trade, investment and tourism activities between the two countries.
A 21 member business delegation from CCIC, Nepal is currently visiting Sri Lanka in a bid to build trade and investment links between the two countries.
Vish Govindasamy, Vice Chairman at CCC has said at the MoU signing event that trade between Sri Lanka and Nepal has grown in recent years and that Sri Lanka has exported over US$ 3 million worth of goods to Nepal in 2014.
“By 2018, this has increased to USD 8 million while imports from Nepal have grown marginally. Furthermore, we believe that there are opportunities for further growth and bi-lateral trade between two countries. We also see a notable rise in tourist arrivals from Nepal. Accordingly, about 1,000 tourists from Nepal visited Sri Lanka in 2012. Moreover, this figure grew to 5,200 in 2016 and has reached a high of 13,150 in 2017,” Govindasamy has been quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, President of CCIC Nepal, Sahan Lal Pradhan has proposed to create links between Sri Lankan tourist and religious attractions and Buddhist as well as Ramayana tourist circuits to give a further boost to tourism industry activities in both countries.
According to him, close to 50,000 Sri Lankans visit Lumbini, the birth place of Buddha, every year.
“Given our long lasting cultural and religious ties, we see immense opportunities to invigorate cultural activities and religious tourism activities between two countries,” Pradhan has told the media.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka enjoys strong trade and bilateral ties with countries in the South Asian region. Sri Lanka also enjoys free trade agreements with India and Pakistan while enjoying preferential treatment in trade with other South Asian countries. Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean, the ease of doing business environment in the country and the many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed by the country have made it an attractive business destination in the South Asian region. Foreign businesses/investors looking at doing business in the South Asian region could explore setting up base in Sri Lanka to engage with other South Asian countries.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20191107/Z_7 |