Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena while appreciating the commitment and support of the Indian business community in Sri Lanka promised to set up a Special Indian Desk.
This is to iron out any issues the Indian business community has in Sri Lanka and also facilitate more investments to Sri Lanka.
He thanked the Indian companies for their significant input and support to the Sri Lankan economy by bringing substantial investments into the country, forex earnings, employment generation, and contribution to the Treasury through direct and indirect taxes. The Prime Minister who met the CEOs of the Indian CEO Forum-Sri Lanka (ICF) stressed the need for further growth in bilateral trade and increased Indian investments in new areas, where Indian technical know-how could be introduced.
The PM briefed the CEOs about the steps taken by the Government to solve the unprecedented economic crisis faced by the country.
The CEO team led by its President, T.S. Prakash stated that the member companies represent diverse industries from automobile, banking, cement, and FMCG to fuel, glass, hospitality, infrastructure, logistics, packaging, paint, and pharmaceuticals.
“ICF has launched the ‘Shine Lanka’ platform to promote trade and investments as well as tourism, which has a huge potential,” he said.
Prakash said the Indian companies make a valuable contribution to the Sri Lankan economy by providing gainful employment to thousands, providing best-in-class management, technical skills, and contributing substantiality to Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange earnings despite the current economic challenges.
The Indian CEOs expressed appreciation over the initial successes by Sri Lanka in its plans to recover from the economic crisis and emphasised the need to sustain the efforts. They also called for relaxation of some outdated regulations to enhance growth of trade and attract investments.
CEO, Lanka Ashok Leyland, Umesh Gauthem said that his company respected the temporary vehicle ban by Sri Lanka and said his company had assembled over 1,400 buses in recent times without draining dollars out of Sri Lanka. .
He said that Lanka Ashok Leyland and the Indian companies also did not retrench local staff in the past few years. The ICF while remembering the active role played by Lanka IOC in dealing with the fuel crisis said they will also actively engage in promoting tourism to Sri Lanka.
Airtel’s Ashish Nanda said his company has access to over 65% of Indian households through mobile telephones and Sri Lanka could promote tourism in the vast Indian market using IT.
The meeting was also attended by CEOs of Lanka IOC, Revlon Cosmetics, Ultra Tech Cement, West Container Terminal (operated by Adani), and Platinum One real estate company.