Japan’s Senior Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry in town next week

Saturday, 26 July 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Japan’s Senior Vice Minister of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Kazuyoshi Akaba and a senior delegation are to visit Sri Lanka to participate in the Joint Public Private Forum and to call on President and Ministers of Economic Development, Commerce and Industry and Investment Promotion, next week. The key objectives of the visit are to enhance commercial activity between the two countries, to increase investments to Sri Lanka, to discuss the future expansionary prospects of Japanese companies already operating in Sri Lanka and to explore other

mutually-beneficial economic and industrial opportunities and vistas in Sri Lanka, among others. This is the first occasion that a cabinet rank Minister from METI is visiting Sri Lanka after a lapse of two decades. Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Japan Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda called on Minister Kazuyoshi Akaba to discuss the visit as well as the engagements, calls and program of the Senior Vice Minister and METI delegation. Minister Akaba, whilst appreciating the call by Karannagoda who would also be visiting Sri Lanka to be present at the respective engagements and calls, stated that Sri Lanka was well poised and well positioned to become an economic and commercial hub in the region of Indian Ocean. He added that the visit of a select delegation from Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in October last year was very successful and they were highly optimistic of the economic projectile of the country. Minister Akaba also added that the economy of Japan is rapidly picking up and could be witnessed by the performance of the equity market and corporates. Since he had been a senior corporate executive of Mitsui Corporation, one of the largest industrial corporate houses in Japan, before being a Parliamentarian, Minister Akaba stated that Sri Lanka would be a very important commercial and trading partner for Japan. A team of senior officials from Colombo is to visit Tokyo to conduct preliminary discussions at director level in order to determine the viability and possibility of having a trade arrangement/agreement on the lines of a Free Trade Agreement or an Economic Partnership Agreement between the two countries. Ambassador Karannagoda expressed appreciation to Minister Akaba and METI for selecting Sri Lanka as a candidate for the ‘Smart Community’ concept. This is an innovative concept which develops a chosen region, in all aspects, for new businesses and corporates to foster, thus making them large corporates extending employment and connectivity. The Ambassador added that investments from Japan to Sri Lanka during the last three years had reached $ 460 million, which was greater than the total investments from Japan until 2010. He further alluded to the vitality of maritime security and dynamics as well as the necessity of Japan to be more engaged with the ports of Sri Lanka, particularly with the Port of Colombo. Senior Vice Minister Akaba was associated with Director for Trade Policy Mikio Aoki, Executive Adviser to the Minister Keiji Sugimoto and Associate of METI Yuji Hosoi. Ambassador Karannagoda was accompanied by Deputy Chief of Mission Saj Mendis and Commercial Counsellor of the Mission D.D. Premaratne.