Sri Lanka, Austria talks on development projects

Daily News - 13/06/2013  

External Affairs Minister Professor G L Peiris meets Austria's Vice Chancellor (Deputy Prime Minster) and European and International Affairs Minister Dr Michael Spindelegge

The growth of bilateral trade between Sri Lanka and Austria, despite the economic recession in Europe and the steady increase in direct foreign investment from Austria augur well for the future of relations between Sri Lanka and Austria, External Affairs Minister Professor G L Peiris said.

He said this during a meeting on Tuesday with Austria's Vice Chancellor (Deputy Prime Minster) and European and International Affairs Minister Dr Michael Spindelegge at the Foreign Ministry in Vienna.

The ministers noted that Austrian companies are showing increasing interest in bidding for major infrastructure development projects, while others have already undertaken construction projects in Sri Lanka, including the Greater Colombo sewerage system rehabilitation project.



The Sri Lankan government has concluded negotiations with Austria on several major development projects including the supply of railway steel bridges and auxiliary supplies and services, construction of the Kochchikade bridge, enhancement of facilities at the Advanced Technical Institute in Kandy and the provision of protective fences at railway crossings.

The ministers agreed that it is timely to focus on strengthening economic ties, taking advantage of the stable and peaceful environment for increased trade.

Minister Spindelegger welcomed the initiative by Sri Lanka's Embassy in Vienna, in association with the Export Development Board,  to arrange a visit by a trade delegation to Austria this year, as a follow up to the visit by a business delegation from Austria to Sri Lanka in June 2011.

They noted that Austrian companies are active in several fields in Sri Lanka, including the manufacture of electrical goods and the provision of services in the tourism sector.

Prof Peiris told Dr Spindelegger that the Sri Lankan government is engaged in a massive reconstruction programme in many areas of the country, and that there are extensive opportunities for further investment by Austrian companies, especially in tourism, power generation, agriculture and fisheries.

Dr Spindelegger welcomed Prof Peiris and expressed pleasure that a visit by a Sri Lankan Foreign Minister to Austria is taking place after the lapse of 10 years.

He recalled his meeting with Minister Peiris in New York on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly three years ago, and welcomed the opportunity of continuing their bilateral discussions. He also referred to the visit of Dr. Wolfgang Waldner, State Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Austria to Sri Lanka in April last year, and his discussions with Minister Peiris in Colombo. The ministers discussed an extensive programme of activities, planned for next year, to mark the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Austria.

Sri Lanka's Honorary Consuls in Graz and Salzburg, as well as the Austrian Honorary Consul in Sri Lanka will play an active part in the implementation of this programme. Minister Peiris said that Austrian President Dr Heinz Fischer visited Sri Lanka on several occasions in a private capacity in the 1980s, and that he is most welcome to visit the country again. Prof Peiris suggested that it would be useful to establish a mechanism at senior official level for annual bilateral consultations to review progress and to identify new areas of collaboration.

He said it is of particular importance, in view of Austria's current capacity as Vice-President of the Human Rights Council, to provide a detailed briefing on progress with regard to implementation of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.

He explained the steps taken so far in a structured manner, on the basis of priorities, and the developments envisioned in the near future. In discussions with Reinhold Lopatka, Austria's State Secretary for European and International Affairs Prof. Peiris said that Sri Lanka has established a University for the Visual and Performing Arts, and requested Austria to support this institution with academic exchanges and scholarships, especially in the fields of Music and the Visual Arts.


During his two day official visit to Austria, Minister Peiris held discussions with Neugebauer, Second President of the Austrian National Council, Yuri Fedotov, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Vienna and Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary-Elect of The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation. He had bilateral talks in Vienna with Tomas Dub, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. He delivered an address on “The Place of Sri Lanka in Europe's outreach to Asia” at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, one of the oldest diplomatic training institutes in the world.

Nestlé Lanka VP takes over as EDB Chairman

DailyFT

Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce hands over the Letter of Appointment to Bandula Egodage, (Left) the new Chairman/CEO of Export Development Board.

A corporate affairs and communications professional from one of the world’s largest food and beverage multinationals has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Export Development Board (EDB) of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen yesterday appointed Nestlé Lanka PLC Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Communication Bandula Egodage to the helm of EDB.
He will continue in his permanent position at Nestle Lanka. The new appointment follows the resignation of Janaka Ratnayake late last year.

Egodage, who has been with Nestlé Lanka PLC for the last 28 years, also has comprehensive experience in rural development (particularly in relation to dairy), exports (coconuts), external and public affairs and local and international government and regulatory engagement. He is a past student of Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda.
Also present during the occasion were EDB Director General Sujatha Weerakoon, Nestlé Lanka PLC MD Ganesan Ambalavanar, EDB Executive Director Dr. Yousuf Maraikkar and Ministry of Industry and Commerce Secretary Anura Siriwardena among others.

The European Seafood Exposition (ESE) - 2013

Sri Lanka Stall at the European Seafood Exposition

The European Seafood Exposition (ESE) is the world's largest seafood fair. Attracting buyers and sellers from over 140 countries around the world and featuring the stands of over 1,600 exhibitors. The European Seafood Exposition is the global can't-miss fair for the seafood industry.

Since the ESE is the most prominent fair for the seafood sector and also considering the Europe as Sri Lanka’s key market, Sri Lanka has been participating regularly at this fair since 2007.  The previous participations have brought tangible outcome for Sri Lanka’s fisheries export sector.

The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Embassy in the Belgium Organized  a Sri Lanka pavilion at the European Seafood Exposition (ESE) held in the Belgium from 23rd to 25th April 2013.

Six Exhibitors from Sri Lanka participated in the ESE 2013

1.Aloy Expo (Pvt) Ltd
2. Tropic Frozen Foods (Pvt) Ltd
3. Tess Agro
4. Global Sea Foods (Pvt) Ltd
5. Serendib Foods (Pvt) Ltd
6. Deshan International Imports and Exports (Pvt) Ltd

Sri Lanka: Promising Business Destination

-Asian Tribune-

Prof. Peiris Addresses Trade and Investment Event in Beijing

External Affairs Minister Professor G.L. Peiris was the principal speaker at the event “Sri Lanka: Promising Business Destination” organized in Beijing on Tuesday at the Intercontinental Hotel by the Embassy of Sri Lanka and the Export Development Board.

Professor Peiris explained to the leading Chinese investors and representatives of the corporate sector of China present at the event, the main advantages which Sri Lanka is able to offer today, as a destination for investment and trade. Key officials of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade participated in the event. One of the salient features of this programme was the emphasis on matching arrangements between Sri Lankan and Chinese companies for the purpose of increasing volumes of trade between the two countries.

The expansion of Sri Lanka’s economic relations with China received a sharp emphasis in the bilateral discussions which took place in Beijing and Xian during the State Visit by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the People’s Republic of China.

Ayurveda Expo 2013 from July 12-14

Sunday Observer (26/05/2013)

Ayurveda Expo 2013, the international indigenous healthcare exhibition organised by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) will be held at the BMICH from July 12 -14.
The exhibition is held for the fourth consecutive time in Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine, Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Export Development Board.
The objective of the exhibition is to showcase the potential of Sri Lanka's indigenous medical sector and its products and services for the tourism industry.
Ayurveda 2013 Steering Committee Chairman Thilak Godamanna said many Sri Lankan and Indian organisations engaged in indigenous medical product manufacturing and services have already reserved stalls.
He said delegations from Japan, India, Germany, South Africa and China (Shanghai) have confirmed participation in the exhibition.
A Symposium on South Asian Traditional Medicine will be held on July 13 at the same venue, where world-renowned professionals in the sector will make presentations on the latest research findings in the sector.

Release of handbook on the “India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement”

- Asian Tribune -

High Commissioner of India Ashok K. Kantha hands over a copy of "Handbook on the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement" to Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen at the Taj Samudra

A Handbook on the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement was released on 15 May 2013 by Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister for Industry and Commerce, Government of Sri Lanka and Ashok K. Kantha, High Commissioner of India. The handbook was brought out by the High Commission of India in collaboration with the Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka.

Mr. Anura Sirwardena, Secretary, Ministry of Industry & Commerce, Mr. Saman Kelegama, Executive Director, Institute of Policy Studies, Mr. Vish Govindaswamy, President, India-Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ISLCCI), Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy, Director, Pathfinder Foundation, Mr. Sunil G. Wijesinha, President, National Chamber of Commerce, Mr. P. Kumaran, Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. Manish, Economic & Commercial Counsellor, members of Indo-Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce & Industry, representatives of various business houses, India CEOs, officials from government departments and media representatives participated in the event

Ministor of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen

In his remarks at the event, Rishad Bathiudeen noted that India and Sri Lanka were inseparable friends with a vibrant and growing economic and commercial partnership which had witnessed both trade and investment expanding greatly in recent years. Over the past decade or so, the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) had made a substantial contribution in bringing 70% of Sri Lankan exports to India under the FTA, while only about 30% of the Indian exports to Sri Lanka were being made under the FTA. At a time when Sri Lanka’s traditional markets in the West were showing slow recovery from the global economic crisis, the growing markets in Asia, including that of India, provided a great opportunity for enhancing Sri Lankan exports via the ISFTA. As a result, in 2012, imports from India stood at 19% of the overall imports of Sri Lanka (largest source of imports to Sri Lanka), while Sri Lanka’s exports to India stood at 5.8% of overall exports of Sri Lanka (3rd largest destination for Sri Lankan exports), with total trade between the two countries amounting to US$ 4.2 billion.

Pathfinder Foundation Director Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy

Dr. Saman Kelegama, Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy and Mr. Vish Govindaswamy, during their remarks, sought to dispel the misconceptions surrounding some of the criticisms of the ISFTA. Although there was a commonly-held misconception that a FTA between a large and a small country would appear to bring all benefits for the larger country, if the asymmetry between the two countries was duly accommodated by recognizing the principle of Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) for the small country, a “win-win” situation could be worked out.

This asymmetry was accommodated in the ISFTA right from the outset, by offering a longer tariff liberalization period for Sri Lanka, a larger negative list, favourable rules of origin, etc. This had enabled more than 70% of Sri Lankan goods to be exported to India via the FTA (83% in 2011) compared to less than 30% for India (13% in 2011). The Import-Export ratio between Sri Lanka and India had declined from 10.3 to 1 in 2000, to 6.4 to 1 in 2012. Had the FTA not happened, Sri Lankan exports to India would have been considerably less than what has been achieved and the trade deficit would have been much larger, given the large volume of Indian exports being made outside the FTA. It had to be noted that the trade deficit with India got somewhat compensated by the large capital flows from India to Sri Lanka in terms of FDI, aid, etc. Thus, there was little logic to use the trade imbalance alone as a guide to assess the progress of an FTA.

In his address, Ashok K. Kantha, High Commissioner of India, recalled the urgent need to promote further Indo-Sri Lankan trade by various stakeholders including the Governments of Sri Lanka and India, Chambers of Commerce and Industry of both the countries and above all the businessmen and entrepreneurs, and to take them to the next level.

The High Commissioner highlighted that in 2011-12, India’s imports from Sri Lanka went up by almost 45% to cross US$720 million, making Sri Lanka the largest source of merchandise from the South Asian region for India. This was a big jump from the US$45 million imports in 2000-01, when Sri Lanka occupied 4th rank as an import source for India in the region. Sri Lanka’s exports to India had multiplied by over 16 times in this period, while India’s exports to Sri Lanka had gone up by less than 7 times. There was thus no doubt that the FTA had brought significant benefits to both sides, but more to Sri Lanka. A number of top Indian companies had displayed high interest in Sri Lanka, investing in the country across sectors such as infrastructure,

manufacturing, services, and construction. The cumulative FDI approvals for Indian investments stood at about US$ 1 billion since 2003, with investment inflows of US$160 million in 2012. Nearly US$ 2 billion worth of FDI had been committed by Indian companies for the next five years or so. However, the investment flow was by no means one-sided as Sri Lankan companies too were finding substantial opportunities in the large Indian market, leveraging FTA provisions. The bilateral economic cooperation today extended across multiple areas of engagement, including trade in goods and services, tourism, infrastructure, education, science and technology, and agriculture. Air connectivity had gone up manifold and there were about 120 flights a week between Colombo and eight destinations in India; almost one-fifth of tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka was from India. The beneficial synergy in bilateral economic relations was best illustrated by the container traffic of Colombo Port, which handled nearly thirty percent of the container transshipment business of India; India-linked cargo, in turn, accounted for over three-fourths of the Port’s total container transshipment volume.

The High Commission er made a special emphasis on the impetus generated during the landmark visit of. Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles, Government of India, to Sri Lanka from 3-5 August 2012 coinciding with the inauguration of the “The India Show – Land of Limitless Opportunities”. During the visit, the two governments had set an ambitious target of doubling bilateral trade to reach US$ 10 billion by the year 2015. It was also decided to take several key steps to further deepen trade and investment relations, including by focusing on increasing Sri Lanka’s export capacity with promotion of manufacturing of products like automobile parts, engineering products and pharmaceuticals, with Indian investments and forging linkages across the production and supply chains of the two countries. To take these proposals forward, the two governments had constituted a high-level Joint Task Force.

Highlighting the non-reciprocal concessions granted by the Government of India in recent months, the High Commissioner said India had taken several key initiatives, including allowing export of 8 million pieces of garments to India by Sri Lankan exporters (condition of importing fabric from India for exporting 5 million pieces of garment removed); issue of import permits for processed meat for one year (earlier it was six months); allowing import of two additional fruits, namely Rambutan and Mangosteen from Sri Lanka; proposing to enter into a Customs Cooperation Agreement and signing a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement.

Both Rishad Bathiudeen and the High Commissioner conveyed their sincere appreciation to the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka for partnering with the High Commission in bringing out the handbook. The High Commissioner also acknowledged the support received from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, and the various government departments and the chambers of commerce and industry in Sri Lanka.

The ‘Handbook on the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement’ aims at facilitating a better understanding of the close economic and commercial partnership that has resulted between the two countries following the entry into force of the FTA. Although there is a lot of information and literature on the ISFTA, they remain scattered. The handbook attempts to bring this scattered information together to assist the business community and other stakeholders to obtain a better understanding of the ISFTA. In addition to a brief analysis on what has happened so far under the ISFTA, the handbook reproduces the Free Trade Agreement and technical details relevant to the Agreement such as the Negatives Lists, Rules of Origin, etc., and agencies dealing with the ISFTA.

Sri Lanka sees 10.3% industry surge in 2012

Daily News - 2013-05-20

Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce, unveils the CNCI Gold Achiever Award at Cinnamon Grand as Kumara Kandalama, SG/CEO of CNCI, and Preethi Jayawardena, Chairman, CNCI look on Picture by Saliya Rupasinghe

As Sri Lanka experienced a 10.3 % industry surge in 2012, Sri Lanka’s historic industry growth rate appeared to exceed the growth rate of its own GDP.

“Lankan historic industry sector growth has surpassed even the national GDP growth rate-in that, the industry ‘value addition’ to the GDP in 2012, is 62 times to that of 1960 when CNCI began at only US $ 269 million. Our industrial exports too, increased by 28 %, in 2011,” said Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce addressing the CNCI Achiever Awards 2013 launch event held at the Cinnamon Grand on May14 .


“This is a valuable SAARC networking opportunity, for our industries,” said Minister Bathiudeen.

“Our GDP in 1960 was only $ 1.4 billion but today it is $ 60 billion growing by more than 42 times. As the Minister of Industries I am pleased to say that our industry sector growth in this period has surpassed even the national GDP growth rate-in that, the industry ‘value addition’ to the GDP in 2012 is 62 times that of the value addition in 1960 which was only US $ 269 million.”

“Our industrial exports too increased by 28%, in 2011. The other notable development is the growth in private sector involvement in our industrial sector. This is clearly evident in more recent times. Especially in the period, of 2001 to 2010, Sri Lanka’s private sector industrial participation has almost doubled.”

“The private sector industrial participation index,” which was at 110.2 in December 2001 increased by 96.2%, to a huge 216.2 by December 2010. Despite this our “Public Sector Industry Output” did not decline. In fact, the “Public Sector Industry Output Index” has been on a growing trend, and in 2011 it increased by a strong 20 percent. Our Industry sector grew by 10.3% in 2012 and even the overall GDP rose by 6.4%.”

For the 11 year period, of 2002 to 2012, 2,250 new patents and 2,581 new designs were registered in Sri Lanka by the National Intellectual Property Office, under my Ministry. 15,774 trademarks too were successfully registered. These are positive developments, for our industrial growth,” he said. Associated Newspapers of Ceylon is the media sponsor for the event.