Chile explores Sri Lanka as a hub for South Asia

From left: Honorary Consul of Chile in Sri Lanka Mano Selvanathan, Chile envoy for Sri Lanka and India Andres Barbe; CCC CEO/Secretary General Mangala P. B. Yapa and CCC Senior Assistant Secretary General Lilakshini De Mel

The New Delhi-based Chilean envoy Andres Barbe visited the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce yesterday to explore investment potential in Sri Lanka.

He was met by Mangala P.B. Yapa, CEO/Secretary General of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Lilakshini De Mel, Senior Assistant Secretary General of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

During discussions, the Ambassador talked on the possibilities of Chile focusing on exporting to the Indian and the rest of the Asian markets, using Sri Lanka as a platform.

“It takes 60 days for us to ship our products to the Indian market from Chili, which is very time consuming and also costly,” the Chilean envoy said.

He said minerals, forestry, agriculture value addition, such as producing wines and also fruits are some of the county’s biggest industry.

In response Yapa said Chile can use the tax free Hambantota Port as a hub to focus on the South Asian market and also the rest of Asia. He also emphasized Sri Lanka’s strong connectivity to the global maritime route.

Chilean envoy said, he will work to bring in a high level Chilean delegation very soon to Sri Lanka to further discuss the opportunities prevailing.

Andres Barbe said that Chile has signed 24 Free Trade Agreements with different nations and the country strongly believes in free trade. Chile is a country situated in the South American region.

Honorary Consul General for Chile in Sri Lanka and the former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber Commerce Mano Selvanathan accompanied the Chilean envoy to the Chamber.