President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday welcomed the support of the German government for the country’s economic development when the head of a visiting German Business Delegation to Sri Lanka, Parliamentary State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Energy, Uwe Beckmeyer called on the President at his residence.

The visit of the German business delegation took place subsequent to the President’s recent visit to Germany, during which Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that she will send a business delegation to explore business and investment opportunities in Sri Lanka.

The President welcomed the positive response on the part of Germany to send this delegation to Sri Lanka that will enhance business to business relationships (B2B) upon meeting with the Sri Lankan business community.

During the meeting, President Sirisena explained to Beckmeyer how Sri Lanka is making steady progress in strengthening democracy and reconciliation through appointing new independent commissions, and strengthening existing commissions, such as the human rights commission, bribery and corruption commission, and audit commission among others.

Underlining the priority given to economic development for achieving sustainable development and peace, the President said, “Economic development is the basis upon which strong democracy and lasting peace can be built.”

He welcomed the fact that Germany is supporting vocational training in Sri Lanka and also that German investments have created more than 10,000 direct jobs in the country.

Beckmeyer, while appreciating the progress Sri Lanka has achieved internally and locally during a relatively short period of time, emphasised his government’s commitment to bring Sri Lankan and German businesses closer  to each other, and said the present visit of the delegation was a part of this initiative. He expressed his hopes for continued goodwill and healthy business relations.

President assured that he will instruct the ministers and officers to review the progress of business development between Sri Lanka and Germany every three months and report to him, upon which further strengthening of bilateral economic ties will be possible.

Currently, many German factories operate in the country and generate nearly Rs. 130 billion worth bilateral trade. While German car brands dominate 95 % of the premium car market in the country, Sri Lanka enjoys a positive trade balance of approximately Rs. 22 billion.

The German State Secretary is accompanied by a 29 member business delegation of leading German enterprises varying from mid-sized to large Multi-National Corporations, representing sectors, such as Infrastructure Development, Tourism, Smart Cities/Megapolis and Renewable Energy/Waste-to-Energy and many more sectors.