Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai at Indian Merchants Chamber Business Connect 2024

The Consul General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai, Dr. Valsan Vethody participated in the “Business Connect 2024” organised by the Indian Merchants Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IMC) in Mumbai. 

IMC, established in 1907, is a prestigious business association in Mumbai. It boasts over 5,000 members, including major business establishments and industrialists such as Reliance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Godrej, and Adani. The Chamber collaborates with more than 150 trade groups. In recognition of its contribution to nation-building, Mahatma Gandhi accepted honorary membership in 1931. 

The event’s theme, “Bridging Borders for Business Growth,” aimed to facilitate interaction between officials, committee members, IMC members, and diplomatic missions in Mumbai. The objective was to explore opportunities for expanding trade, investment, and tourism between the participating countries and the local business community of Maharashtra. 

The Consul General was invited as the Guest of Honour to address an audience of over 180 top industrialists and businessmen of the Maharashtra region. 

The Consuls General of Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam and the Trade and Investment Commissioner, Austrade also participated as the speakers for the event. 

In his speech, Dr. Vethody highlighted Sri Lanka’s healthy socio-economic progress despite its turbulent political and economic history, including its 32 years of struggle against externally imposed terrorism from 1977 to 2009. He emphasised the country’s high quality of life and resilience, noting Sri Lanka’s respectable socio-economic indicators even after the post-COVID foreign currency liquidity crisis in 2022. Dr. Vethody also addressed how some geopolitical media narratives have attempted to brand Sri Lanka as a failed nation, despite its socio-economic achievements, which surpass those of over 60% of countries globally. Moreover, he discussed the nation’s recent successes in economic and trade enhancement, debt restructuring, and the significant influx of tourists in the first six months of 2024.

Dr. Vethody explained the advantages of export-oriented investments in Sri Lanka, highlighting the country’s Free Trade Agreements with India, Pakistan, Singapore, and Thailand, as well as the Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) benefits with the EU nations and the USA. He also elaborated on Sri Lanka’s 26 bilateral investment protection treaties and agreements on the avoidance of double taxation with 45 other countries. 

He underscored the substantial economic footprint of India in Sri Lanka, with around 65 major Indian companies investing across 35 sectors, including oil exploration, renewable energy, telecom, petroleum retailing, harbour development, real estate, banking and financial services, tourism, hospitality, vanaspati, and metals like copper. 

Following the formal speeches, each country’s mission was allocated a table for B2B networking meetings. Dr. Vethody and the Commercial Consul Shirani Ariyarathne, actively participated in the session, drawing significant attention to the Sri Lankan table.  Post-event, the mission has been receiving positive responses from potential investors and individuals interested in travelling to Sri Lanka for business and tourism.

In response to the demand from IMC members, the IMC has requested Dr. Vethody to contribute an article titled “The Economic Opportunities in Sri Lanka” to their bi-monthly journal. 

This publication is widely distributed to key stakeholders including the Prime Minister’s Office, Indian industry leaders, exporters, importers, professionals, consultancies, central and state ministries, foreign diplomatic missions in India, Indian diplomatic missions abroad, industry associations, international chambers, and bilateral and multilateral institutions.