Ivory Coast Honorary Consul Sheran Fernando

Honorary Consul for Côte d’Ivoire Sheran Fernando said there is a huge opportunity for Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to take advantage of the investor-friendly regime in the West African nation.

He noted that there are similarities in the first 20 years since independence between Sri Lanka and of Côte d’Ivoire where both countries placed much focus on agriculture and tourism.

“If you look at Côte d’Ivoire today, there is also a lot we can learn from them. Their growth trajectory has been much higher than ours over a long period of time and this is possibly because of the long-term plans they put in place such as five-year plans,” he said.

The Honorary Consul added that there are many Sri Lankan companies that could go in and take advantage of their tax regime, and their trade agreements. “The country is very strong in trade agreements. They have trade agreements with African nations, trade agreements with Europe and the US. There is a huge opportunity for Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to go in there and set up bases not just for Africa but also for the rest of the world,” he said.

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