Sri Lanka woos more Singapore investments

Friday, 24 May 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A seminar on ‘Opportunities of Doing Business in Sri Lanka’ was organised by the High Commission of Sri Lanka in Singapore in collaboration with the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore recently at the auditorium of the SBF, with the participation of over 100 senior Executives from companies in Singapore.

High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Singapore Ismail Ashraff delivered the opening address while Assistant Executive Director of the SBF Thian Tai Chew made the welcome remarks.

The main presentation highlighting the emerging investment opportunities in Sri Lanka was made by Board of Investment of Sri Lanka Executive Director (Investment Promotion) Duminda Ariyasinghe. Vivek Chhabra, Regional Director of Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd. (APB), having two manufacturing units in Sri Lanka, shared his experiences in doing business in Sri Lanka. Views expressed by Chhabra substantially contributed to further boost the level of Sri Lanka’s business confidence.

IE Singapore, a co-organiser of the seminar, through a detailed statistical exposé urged the participants to positively consider Sri Lanka as a destination for their outward investments.

Shamil Mendis, President of the Singapore-Sri Lanka Business Council affiliated to the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the leader of the 17-member high-powered business delegation, briefed the participants on how services of the Business Council could be made use of by their Singaporean counterparts in forging mutually-beneficial business alliances.

The Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) in Singapore was also launched at the seminar. The seminar was followed by a well-structured session of one-to-one business meetings between the members of the Sri Lankan business delegation and their Singaporean counterparts.

A networking dinner was also hosted for the business delegation providing an opportunity for the members to interact with prospective Singaporean businessmen. Two networking sessions with the Singapore-Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Singapore Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry were also held.