“We are on the verge of important turning points in our bilateral trade history” said Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen in Colombo.
Minister Bathiudeen was addressing the 5th edition of the Indo Ceylon Economic Dialogue (ICE dialogue-5) jointly organized by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and industry of Sri Lanka and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Renuka Hotel in Colombo on Thursday 11.
Joining Minister Bathiudeen at the session were Deputy Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Arindam Bagchi, delegates from the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and President of Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka Sarath Kahapalarachchi.
“B2B initiatives, such as today’s Indo Ceylon Economic Dialogue which has successfully moved on to its fifth session are the types of platforms that both governments can formulate to strategise the forthcoming expansions in our historic bilateral cooperation. Today’s session takes place at a time when Sri Lanka is on the verge of important turning points in bilateral trade history. The other turning point is that latest trade data from the Department of Commerce shows that last year our total bilateral trade was around $ 4.91 billion. In that both countries are now ready to cross the $5 Bn mark in bilateral trade at any time. Interestingly, this promising trade growth was seen on a year on year basis even last year-in that last year alone bilateral trade grew by 6.3 percent to arrive at this $ 4.9 billion. We also notice significant demand from India for certain Sri Lankan products during the last five years. On the investment side, from 2005 to 2015 September, total Indian investment volume in Sri Lanka has come close to $ 800 million. More Indian private sector FDIs of one billion dollars are in the pipeline for Sri Lanka. As of March this year, Sri Lanka’s investments in India totaled US $ 40 million. Among Sri Lankan firms invested in India and are doing well are MAS, Orange Electricals, and Damro.
Indian Deputy High Commissioner Bagchi, addressing the event said that in the aftermath of recent political changes in both countries, after the FTA was signed, Indo-Lanka relations heavily focused on economic relations. Indian exports to Sri Lanka increased by 10 times while two-thirds of Sri Lankan exports make use of FTA benefits.”
The Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) was signed in December 1998 and came into force on 2000.
