The Sri Lanka-Thailand Business Council together with Thai Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce based in Bangkok, has organised an investment promotion event themed ‘Opening New Vistas, 2009′, scheduled to take place on August 31, 2009 at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo. The Chief Guest of this event will be Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, and the Guest of Honour will be Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Minister of Enterprise Development, Investment Promotion and Media.
The upcoming event was organised as a result of the success of the previous event themed “Emerging Peace and Business Opportunities in Sri Lanka” which was held recently at Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. The event was organised by Thai Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce together with Sri Lanka Thailand Business Council in collaboration with the Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Embassy in Thailand.
This event was able to attract the participation of 30 Sri Lankan companies as well as an excellent response from the business community in Thailand. The event could be considered a great success as over 100 companies attended the event, thus exceeding the initial expectations of the organisers.
Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa was the Chief Guest at this event. A 30-member business delegation led by the President of the Sri Lanka-Thailand Business Council, Lionel Fernando accompanied the Minister and held one-to-one meetings with Thai counterparts on sectors such as IT/BPO, Gems and Jewellery, Agro and Food Processing, Tourism, Infrastructure and Manufacturing industries.
“Opening New Vistas 2009” can be regarded as the second stage of their plans toward post-war development in Sri Lanka. “The purpose of this event is to promote foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka,” says Lionel Fernando, adding that consequently it is their hope that they would be able to contribute to the government’s efforts in developing the Sri Lankan economy.
As the theme suggests, this event would generate various new projects that would bring in new technology, employment opportunities, and many more benefits to Sri Lanka.
Similar to the preceding event, 30 companies from Thailand are expected to attend this reciprocal event. The organisers expect the participation of 100 companies from Sri Lanka.
One-to-one meetings between Thai and Sri Lankan companies will be arranged so that the creation of new ventures will become a reality.
“We would like to invite all prospective investors and Small and Medium Enterprises in Sri Lanka, who have an interest toward marketing, financial, or technical joint ventures with Thai investors as well as those enterprises that have the intention to enter into the Thai market, to join us in this event and utilise this golden opportunity, thereby mutually benefitting both countries,” says Fernando.
It was also highlighted that as a result of the free trade agreement signed between Sri Lanka and India, Thai investors will be in a position to take advantage of the vast Indian market by setting up their production base in Sri Lanka through the opportunities created by this event.
The Sri Lanka-Thailand Business Council was established in 2001 with the objective of promoting trade, tourism and investment between Sri Lanka and Thailand and in particular to promote exports from Sri Lanka to Thailand. They also aim to encourage Thai investments, and the establishment of joint ventures.
In the current context, with the ending of the war and the opening of new horizons, the Council hopes to be at the forefront of bringing in new economic opportunities.
The Council also informed that any individual or enterprise expecting to be a member of SLTBC or would like to take part in the upcoming event “Opening New Vistas 2009”, to look into their official website, srilankathaibusiness.com.
