Monday Nov 11, 2024
FT
Monday Nov 11, 2024
Friday, 19 May 2017 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Deputy Minister of the
Czech Republic Ivan Jancarek led the Czech delegation
visiting Sri Lanka
The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka and a Czech Republic business mission held a series of meetings to discuss the possibilities of greater economic cooperation in Sri Lanka, especially in the area of investment.
The visiting Czech delegation was led by Junior Deputy Minister for Non-European Cooperation Ivan Jancarek, who was on an official visit to Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
The Deputy Minister led a delegation of 11 business entities which included leading Czech companies such as Arkon Flow Systems s.r.o., Bilfinger Babcock CZ s.r.o., Czech Export BankEGAP, ENELEX spols.r.o., Komercnibanka a.s., MERKO CZ a.s., MSA, Raiffeisenbank, Technoexport – na Sri Lance VICTORIAN ENERGY, UniCredit Bank Czech and Slovakia a.s.
These included banks and companies engaged in manufacture as well as the development of infrastructure projects.
The first meeting was the Czech-Sri Lanka Business Forum held at the Hilton Hotel which served as an introduction to the other discussions.
The forum was inaugurated by Ambassador Milan Hovorka, who is accredited to Sri Lanka but based in New Delhi.
Ambassador Hovorka spoke of the shared common values between Sri Lanka and the Czech Republic in terms of democracy, liberty and prosperity and the need to improve the ease of doing business between the two countries. He also added that Sri Lanka had emerged as one of the best tourist destinations in Asia and was visited by a growing number of Czech tourists.
According to the ambassador there is also a need to build up trade between the two countries and Sri Lankan enterprises should look at the possibility of developing trade with the Czech Republic hence the future of relations between the two countries was based on strengthening contacts and boosting bilateral trade.
Deputy Minister Jancarek, who followed, highlighted the commonalities that existed between Sri Lanka and the Czech Republic.
Both are middle-sized countries with the Czech Republic having a population of 10 million people against Sri Lanka’s 22 million. In addition, since it was the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Czech Republic, then part of Czechoslovakia, and Sri Lanka, known at the time as Ceylon, there are many opportunities to build ties in the current context as there had been in the past.
Many decades ago Czechoslovakia had supported Sri Lanka’s development. Currently there was about $ 78 million worth of trade which could be developed further. The Minister stated that what the Czech Republic could offer Sri Lanka was knowledge, trade, technology and also the fact that it was part of the European Union, the world’s largest trading block.
The next speaker was Borijov Minar, the Vice President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, who described some of the business opportunities available and also the composition of the visiting trade delegation. In his address he stated that the Czech Republic was a leading exporter of machinery to Sri Lanka while his country imports textiles and tea from the island.
The delegation was interested in taking business opportunities forward and in particular in identifying and entering into joint ventures with reputed Sri Lankan enterprises.
Minar noted that the delegation consisted of some of the leading Czech enterprises in areas such as energy, wine production, banking and other sectors. Well-known Czech companies Skoda and Jawa were also present. The Czech Republic has a reputation of producing high-quality goods. Czech companies are very proud of this reputation and have sought to maintain these high standards.
Board of Investment of Sri Lanka Chairman Upul Jayasuriya then addressed the visiting Czech delegation. He briefed them on the political transformation which the country had undergone since January 2015.
Jayasuriya said: “Sri Lanka was the second country in Asia to start an open economy, in 1977 just after Singapore and long before countries such as India, Malaysia and China. In this quest to create an open economy, Sri Lanka created the Greater Colombo Economic Commission (GCEC) which was the precursor of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, the investment promotion agency of the country.”
Jayasuriya stated that Sri Lanka was today in the 40th year of having an open economy. He also added that as Chairman of the former Tractor Corporation, he was very familiar with products made by then Czechoslovakia, which supplied Sri Lanka with a large number of tractors.
While these were reputed products, they were not assembled in Sri Lanka. Products such as these tractors are now needed in Sri Lanka since the process of mechanised farming has begun, but we still have a long way to go, he stated. He welcomed the Czech delegation to look at fresh opportunities in Sri Lanka. Czech companies are free to engage in business on their own without needing a local partner. Sri Lanka does allow investors full ownership and also grants foreign investors the protection of the Constitution.
Jayasuriya was very confident about Sri Lanka, stating that the party which opened the economy was again back in power, coupled with the fact that Sri Lanka’s internal conflict has been over since 2009 hence the island offered one of the safest business environments in the region.
Czech companies may look at setting up regional headquarters in Sri Lanka. In the case of industry for example all capital goods and raw materials are free of custom duties.
Furthermore, profits can be repatriated free of charge. The BOI also assists with the handling of custom issues as well as exchange control matters.
One area of importance and proof of Sri Lanka’s business friendly environment was the fact that a committee under the Prime Minister examines and resolves all major issues and impediments faced by investors.
Jayasuriya welcomed Czech investors to the BOI and the following day the Czech delegation, headed by Minister Ivan Jancarek, visited the BOI where they were welcomed by the Chairman and senior officials of the BOI.
Jayasuriya stated that the BOI is overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the delegation from the Czech Republic and it was important for that country to see Sri Lanka as a gateway to the South Asian region. In fact with Free Trade Agreements with both India and Pakistan covering over 4,000 items in each agreement, Czech companies could use Sri Lanka as a platform for manufacture and export to two very large South Asian markets.
Jayasuriya also added that Sri Lanka did have the best ease of doing business in the South Asian region. The Chairman also stated that Sri Lanka holds valuable mineral deposits such as ilmenite and rutile that could be refined for manufacturing titaniumdioxide and nano titanium, both very valuable products. Furthermore, Sri Lanka is also one of the few countries to have deposits of vein graphite which has about 99% purity.
Ambassador Hovorka stated that the Czech Republic was an integral part of the European Union, which is Sri Lanka’s largest export market.
Therefore Sri Lanka could also look at Czech participation in the development of infrastructure given the strong knowhow of Czech companies in this specialised area. Chairman Jayasuriya shared that Sri Lanka now enjoys considerable transparency and has introduced a new Right to Information Act whereby any individual or other entity can request any Government or state agency to provide information on almost all matters, within 14 days of the receipt of the request.
This is a far-reaching law which could in the future be extended to include the provision of Government documents to those seeking information. It is therefore a powerful tool for promoting transparency and the democratisation of society.
Czech Minister Jancarek also expressed an interest in technology transfers, including the strong possibility of Czech institutions working very closely with Sri Lankan universities to develop the R&D sector.
The meetings held between the Czech Republic and Sri Lanka showed the potential that exists for greater economic cooperation, including investment between two medium-sized countries in Europe and Asia, and this augured well for the future.
