Australian IT/BPM business mission to Sri Lanka successfully concludes

More than 35 business leaders from Sri Lanka and Australia attended a high-level networking reception linked to the inaugural IT/BPM business mission in Colombo on 10 August.

State Minister of International Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe and Deputy High Commissioner of the Australian High Commission in Sri Lanka Tim Huggins were the guests of honour at the welcome reception hosted by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) on 10 August, at the Kingsbury Hotel.

The networking reception was the inauguration of the high-level Australian business mission to Sri Lanka last week to explore business and investment partnership opportunities and to foster closer bilateral ties between the Sri Lankan IT/BPM sector and Australian businesses. 

The Australian delegation, led by the Sri Lanka and Australia Chamber of Commerce, was composed of prominent businesspeople representing industries such as financial services, professional services, construction and engineering.

The business mission was organised jointly by the Sri Lanka and Australia Chamber of Commerce (SLACC), the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), the Sri Lanka Association for Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) and the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). While the main sponsor for the mission was Orion City, Loops Solutions, EFutures, Teknowledge Shared Services and S. A. Knowledge Services contributed as corporate sponsors.

 A key theme of the business mission was to explore new opportunities brought about by the rapid escalation of Sri Lanka’s ICT/BPM industry, and Sri Lanka’s role as a bridge connecting Australia to the South Asian subcontinent, especially in light of the many trade partnerships and agreements in place. Sri Lanka, being a key destination that is ideally located in the region, can play a crucial role in linking markets together.

The ‘Destination Sri Lanka’ seminar offered the Australian delegation valuable insights into Sri Lanka’s industry capabilities and potential investment and trade opportunities. In addition, an entire afternoon dedicated to one-on-one meetings with visiting delegates and local companies was successfully staged with great interest shown by both registered parties. The mission concluded with a field visit, where the delegates spent a full day visiting prominent IT/BPM organisations in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka-Australia bilateral trade is currently closing upon $ 1 billion with technology collaboration regarded as an area of great potential for future investment and business partnership opportunities between the two countries,

 On behalf of the event organisers, SLACC President Kalum De Silva stated: “We welcome and indeed look forward to Australian and Sri Lankan businesses exploring mutually productive business partnerships, and invite interested parties to make use of the platform provided by us to advance and promote technology investments and trade partnerships between the two countries. We look forward to seeing the results of our joint efforts soon.”