CEO’s Forum picks core areas for Indo-Lanka boost

Monday, 6 August 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Sri Lanka-India CEOs Forum organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) was held on Saturday with the participation of a large number of CEOs from both Sri Lanka and India.

The Co-Chairs for the event were Kulatunga Rajapakse, Managing Dir-ector of DSI Samson Group (Pvt) Ltd. from Sri Lanka and Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel Ltd. from India. The forum was conceptualised at a meeting between the Prime Minister of India and the President of Sri Lanka.

Trade ties between Sri Lanka and India go back over 2,500 years. India is fast becoming a global super power. The business community in India is the driving force behind this growth. Sri Lanka can reap benefits from the Indian growth story. Given the small size of the Sri Lankan market, it is im-portant that Sri Lanka access the Indian market to increase its export and economic gro-wth. The trade balance between India and Sri Lanka at present is heavily in favour of India. Ways and means have to be identified to reduce this imbalance. The two Governments envisage doubling of trade between the two countries within the next three years. Sri Lanka would like to see obstacles to trade and investment removed to enable Sri Lankan businesses to penetrate into the Indian market. There are opportunities and partnerships to be forged for the mutual benefit of both countries.

Some of the potential sectors identified for increasing trade and investment between the two countries are apparel, rubber products, power and energy, tourism, education, skill development, ports and shipping and infrastructure in general.

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