SAARC CCI Chief calls for greater, more meaningful cooperation between South Asia and China

 SAARC CCI delegation led by SAARC CCI President Ruwan Edirisinghe including Chandi Raj Dhakal, Vice President SAARC CCI (Nepal), Dr. Rohitha Silva, Vice President SAARC CCI (Sri Lanka), Ruwan De Silva, General Assembly SAARC CCI (Sri Lanka), Hina Saeed, Secretary General SAARC CCI meet with Liu Guangxi, Chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International

Trade (CCPIT), Yunnan Sub-Council

• Says there is tremendous potential between two of world's oldest civilisations 

This was stated by SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ruwan Edirisinghe during the opening ceremony of 14th China South Asia Business Forum (CSABF). The forum was organised in collaboration with China Council for Promotion of International Trade and Peoples Government of Yunnan, in Kunming China. 

Ruwan Edirisinghe, President of SAARC CCI and FCCISL gave a keynote address in the inaugural session of 14th CSABF and emphasised that the rise of China as an economic power and the emergence of South Asia as a centre of global attention are significant developments in the arena of international economics and politics. He was of the opinion that China and South Asia being the two oldest civilisations and neighbouring countries had a tremendous potential which needs to be harnessed through meaningful cooperation in mutually interested areas. China is an economic ocean and South Asia has the potential to become part of the ocean. Successful integration will generate mutual gains and win-win situation for both regions, he added. The SAARC CCI President led a delegation of leading businessmen from South Asian countries to participate in the 14th CSABF. The theme of the forum was ‘Promoting Industrialisation and Manufacturing Competitiveness’ with Sri Lanka as the rotating chair of the forum. The forum is a joint initiative of SAARC CCI with CCPIT (Yunnan) to enhance economic cooperation between China and SAARC member states.

The session was also addressed by Nalin Bandara Jayamaha, Deputy Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade, the Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka, Hussain Zamir, Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Republic of Maldives, Zong Guoying, Standing Deputy Governor of Peoples Government of Yunnan Province, Engineer Daroo Khan Achakzai, President, Federation of Pakistan Chamber, Nizam Uddin Rajish, Vice President, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers, Dr. Rajeev Singh Tyagi, Director General, Indian Chamber of Commerce, Li Jingjing, Vice President of Sany Heavy Industry Co. Ltd., Shri Mahesh Chandra Keyal, Vice-President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations and Chen Zhou, Vice Chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. Ruwan Edirisinghe also addressed the opening ceremony of 2019 – South and South East Asia Commodity Expo and Investment Fair, and acknowledged it as a great initiative to bridge gap between China and South Asian business community. It is imperative to mention here that this year SAARC CCI has directly participated in the fair and established a SAARC pavilion of 104 business houses across the region.

Prior to the 14th CSABF forum, SAARC CCI delegation also participated in the 2nd edition of China South Asia Business Cooperation meeting in Yuxi, Yunnan Province, China, which was graced by Ruan Chengfa, Governor of Yunnan Province, China. The cooperation meeting was also addressed by the political leadership of South Asia, representative of the World Bank, Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank and leading businessmen from South Asia.

Chandi Raj Dhakal, Vice President, SAARC CCI (Nepal), Dr. Rohitha Silva, Vice President, SAARC

CCI (Sri Lanka), Hina Saeed, Secretary General, SAARC CCI and Zulfiqar Ali Butt, Deputy

Secretary General, SAARC CCI, were the part of the SAARC CCI delegation to Kunming, China. 

The delegation also visited Sichuan province and held the meetings with leadership of CCPIT and CAFTEC.