A Belgian delegation of representatives from 40 companies visited Sri Lanka for Belgian Week 2010 held Nov. 22-26 to explore economic and investment possibilities in Sri Lanka.
“This trade mission comes at a most opportune moment,” said Jean Deboutte, Belgium ambassador to Sri Lanka. “After a long war, Sri Lanka is embarking on a new phase of its economic development, whereas the Belgian economy is in an expansion phase, after the global economic slowdown.”
The event was organized in a collaborative effort by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Belgium, the Embassy of Belgium in New Delhi and the Consulate of Belgium in Colombo. The representatives who visited the South Asian island were from a range of sectors including construction, fisheries, gems, information technology, financial services, textile, tobacco and tourism. Most of the companies were exploring opportunities in Sri Lanka for the first time.
“Given that at present over 70 percent of Sri Lanka-Belgium two-way trade centers on diamonds and Belgian investment is limited to a handful of products, the diversity in the sectors represented by the participating delegation is its most significant feature,” said Ravinatha Aryasinha, Sri Lankan ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union. “That a bulk of them for the first time (has) chosen to explore investment opportunities in Sri Lanka and import our products notwithstanding the absence of preferential trade with Europe is indicative of the competitiveness and potential Sri Lanka continues to enjoy in these markets.”
Deboutte said that Belgium is aware of the economic potential of Asia, particularly of South Asia.
“The conditions are thus right to engage in an enhanced cooperation and to maximize the benefits of complementarities between the two economies,” Deboutte said.
Speaking to the Sunday Times newspaper in Colombo, the export manager of Transurb Technirail Stefan van de Kelder said the motivation for investing in Sri Lanka is not only based on profit.
"Our goal in investing in Sri Lanka is not just to be greedy,” van de Kelder said. “It is to earn ourselves a good reputation among our shareholders by participating in construction in a developing country.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment