Fujian-SL Economic and Trade Cooperation Online Matchmaking Conference, China facilitates trade 

The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Guangzhou in collaboration with the Department of Commerce of Fujian Province and with the participation of Sri Lanka Export Development Board organised the Fujian-Sri Lanka Economic and Trade Cooperation Online Matchmaking Conference on 28 July. 

The Conference promoted and sought buyers for selected export product sectors of Sri Lanka, including rubber products, Ayurvedic and herbal products, gem and jewellery and food products including spices, coconut products and Ceylon Tea. There were over 11,000 online participants with over 40 offline participants in Fujian, consisting of government officials, enterprises and media at the conference. 

The Conference had three segments consisting of speeches, promotion and interaction. The Sri Lanka Export Development Board, 51 Sri Lankan companies and representatives from BOI, Department of Commerce, Sri Lanka Tea Board, Coconut Development Authority, National Gem and Jewellery Authority participated online from Sri Lanka, while Gemmological Association of Fujian with eight gem and jewellery companies, several food and tea supply chain e-commerce platforms and the Department of Commerce of Fujian, participated from Fujian in the Conference. The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Guangzhou participated in the Conference from Fujian. 

Prior to the commencement of the conference Consul General of Sri Lanka to Guangzhou Priyangika Dharmasena briefly met the Director General of the Fujian Department of Commerce Wu Nanxiang and both sides discussed on enhancing further economic cooperation between Fujian Province and Sri Lanka. Both sides acknowledged that the forthcoming economic conference will be a boost towards that end. 

Deputy Director General of the Fujian Department of Commerce Huang Dezhi, in his speech at the Conference, referred to the telephone conversation between the Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in March this year for the enhancement of bilateral relations, and stated their readiness to work with the Sri Lankan business community to deepen economic cooperation and exchange between the two sides.

At the Conference, Consul General of Dharmasena, in her speech, referred to the great potential in Fujian and China for Sri Lanka. She said that both Sri Lanka and China had not reaped full benefits from each other and urged both sides to grab the opportunities available before others do so, and find ways to expand trade for the betterment of both countries. 

Sri Lanka Export Development Board Chairman Suresh de Mel briefly touched on economic relations between Sri Lanka and China, Sri Lanka’s export sectors, and invited China to commence joint partnerships with Sri Lanka as Sri Lanka being in the centre of the Indian ocean and the maritime silk route between China and Europe, would make it an ideal country to invest in. He invited China to enhance sourcing from Sri Lanka, renowned as a supply base of quality products in South Asia.

After the speech session, Sri Lanka Export Development Board Director Anoma Premathilake gave a presentation on the selected export sectors, opportunities available in Sri Lanka for doing business and matters that Sri Lanka experiences when trading with China. 

After the presentation by Sri Lanka Export Development Board, short promotional presentations were made by the Gemmological Association of Fujian as well as imported food and tea supply chain platforms. 

The event successfully ended with a B2B Matchmaking session between Sri Lankan and Fujian companies, for the purpose of finding buyers and suppliers.