Suja K. Menon, Head of Economic and Commercial Wing, High Commission of India in Colombo emphasized that as the world is going through a phase of uncertainty post COVID-19 there is a greater need for collaboration and cooperation, between India and Sri Lanka to ensure faster economic recovery.
Ms. Menon was addressing a webinar hosted by ASSOCHAM India and Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Sri Lanka on “India and Sri Lanka – Economy, Business Environment and Opportunities for Joint Collaborations” on Friday (15).
The webinar was part of ASSOCHAM’s Country webinars to find new ways of working to a new normal, to ascertain the health and economic fallout from the pandemic and to find the new business opportunities for Indian businesses amid COVID 19. The webinar aimed at launching a new roadmap for further engagement with Sri Lanka and come up with recommendations, principles and engagement imperatives.
Speaking at the Webinar, Ms. Menon pointed out that India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) was the first FTA for both countries respectively, which started a new era of business cooperation between India and Sri Lanka. She asked both countries to be more innovative towards enhancing collaboration. She also stressed on the importance of industry on both sides to convert the vision of leaders and translate into actions. We can do more in services sector and look for investment linked trade flows.
She said that recently Sri Lanka has banned 150 items for imports. “Given these challenges, we should be looking at FDI which will be beneficial for both countries. Several Sri Lankan companies have done very well in India and COVID 19 has created new areas of cooperation in digital space, healthcare, agri products, artificial intelligence, robotics etc.”
She also mentioned that Sri Lanka is providing good services for import and export through Sri Lanka Port and Sri Lankan Airlines. “There are concerns from Sri Lanka but on behalf of Indian Govt., we are ready to work on Sri Lanka’s priorities and recently India has gifted 4 consignments of essential medicines to Sri Lanka worth around US$ 3.8 bn.”
Citing the recent ceremony of presentation of credentials by the Indian High Commissioner to President of Sri Lanka through a video conference, a first for both India and Sri Lanka, she noted that innovative use of technology is vital to deal with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Opening the webinar, Manjula de Silva, Chief Executive Officer of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said that India and Sri Lanka are trading for a long time but there is a huge potential which is still to be tapped. He also emphasized on enhancing Sri Lankan exports to India as there is a huge trade deficit in favor of India. He also said that though both countries have been impacted significantly by COVID 19 but both countries are likely to come out of this crisis much faster than other countries.
Prof. Prabir De, Head of ASEAN Indian Centre (AIC), Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), India, Deepak Sood, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM, Anil K. Agrawal, President, Cosmos Group and Past President of ASSOCHAM, Vish Govindasamy, Group Managing Director, Sunshine Holdings PLC and the Deputy Chairman, The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Shiran Fernando, Chief Economist, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce were the other panelists at the webinar.
Courtesy: Colombo Page
