Monday Nov 18, 2024
Monday Nov 18, 2024
Friday, 6 September 2013 03:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Sri Lanka side included Chairman Dr. Lakshman Jayaweera, Duminda Ariyasinghe, Executive Director (Investment), Dilip Samarasinghe, Director (Media and Publicity), Renuka Weerakone, Director (Secretariat), Vijitha Mathuratne, Senior Deputy Director (Investment) and Chandra Kiriella, Deputy Director (Marketing), EDB.
The Israeli companies were drawn from a wide spectrum of activities which included the following sections: Real estate, residential, commerce, innovation, dairy products, insurance, legal services, transportation, aviation maritime services, real estate, tourism, vegetables and herbs cultivation, finance, agriculture, water solutions, telecommunication, cosmetics and food value chain.
The delegation expressed their interest in investing in the island in a number of key sectors. The Israelis entrepreneurs also expressed interest in opportunities to invest in the country in order to engage in trade with third countries, with which Sri Lanka has entered into Free Trade Agreements. Currently Sri Lanka has FTAs with India and Pakistan.
In addition, since Sri Lanka has recently introduced entrepot trade, which will allow the storage of goods at the Hambantota Port, Israeli companies were studying the possibility of using that facility for re-export to other markets.
One area of interest was re-exporting goods after packaging in Sri Lanka. One such company is Schneor Seedm which is involved in the large scale production and supply of tomato seeds which are supplied to the East Asian market. These seeds are used for the production of tomatoes used in fast foods, such as hamburgers.
Currently there are a small number of Israel companies that invest in Sri Lanka under the BOI. These include Diamond Cutters Ltd., which has been operating for more than a decade in the island.
Diamond Cutters Ltd. is engaged in the cutting and polishing of diamonds in Sri Lanka. The gems are then re-exported to Israel. Some of these diamonds are used by the high end wristwatch industry. The company employs 900 workers in Sri Lanka and has contributed to making Sri Lanka a centre for the diamond industry.
Another company exports tuna fish from Sri Lanka to Israel and to Europe. The company is also promoting tourism from Israel and Russia to Sri Lanka.
Yet another area which the delegation expressed interest in was breeding of livestock, particularly poultry farming.
The delegation was pleased with the outcome of their visit and confident that it would lead to greater investment and economic cooperation between Sri Lanka and Israel.
