Friday Dec 13, 2024
Friday Dec 13, 2024
Wednesday, 23 March 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Many industrial gas companies from India gathered at All India Industrial Gases Manufacturer’s Association (AIIGMA) 38th annual meeting, with Finance Minister of Sri Lanka Ravi Karunanayake officially opening the conference.
The 38th Annual Meeting took place from 20-22 March in Colombo for the first time in its history. Over 200 delegates from across India were in attendance.
AIIGMA is the sole representative body of the entire industrial gases industry in India. Members include manufacturers of gases, as well as various equipment manufacturers and foreign companies relating to the industrial gas industry in India.
AIIGMA Vice-President Anish Patel welcomed all the delegates and guests, along with R. Ravindra, Finance Minister and the acting High Commissioner, from the Indian Embassy.
He invited the current President of AIIGMA, R.S. Sachdeva, to address the delegates, where Sachdeva underlined that the Indian economy had been underperforming in recent years, but expressed that there is optimism within the business community to drive India forward in the future.
Sachdeva detailed that the organisation is looking at opportunities throughout the Middle East and Asia, and that AIIGMA has held several meetings across these regions to look into said prospects further. He also welcomed the opportunity of holding the event in a quickly growing market such as Sri Lanka, seeing as India is the largest trading party of the Asian country.
Karunanayake then welcomed the Indian Gases Association and went on to speak about Sri Lanka’s history and potential that the country’s industry holds.
He detailed the current political stability of Sri Lanka after 30 years of unrest, but instilled that it is now set to thrive with the Indian business community being part of that growth and encouraged investment. He also referred to the low tax status that Sri Lanka offers to corporations for encouraged investment.
In a key statement, he said he wanted Sri Lanka and India to work together and not compete against each other in the global economy. He referred to a win-win situation for both countries in which Sri Lanka could parallel Hong Kong’s position within the industry in future years.
A range of speakers from across the industry spoke at the conference.
