Saturday, 8 March 2014 00:00
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Local Government of Zhonshan says Sri Lanka a beautiful, safe, clean country with considerable development opportunities
BOI Chairman Dr. Lakshman Jayaweera and senior officials of the Board met with representatives of the Local Government of Zhonshan, an important city in China’s Guangdong Province, as well as entrepreneurs from that city.
The visiting delegation consisted of Zhongshan Municipal People’s Government Vice Secretary General Cen Hongkai, Zhongshan Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Deputy Director General Richard Liu and four representatives of companies from the province.
Assisting the BOI Chairman were Director Media and Publicity Dilip S. Samarasinghe, Director Promotions Nilupul de Silva and Deputy Director Promotion Kumudhini Ratnaweera. Also associated at the discussions were members of the Sri Lanka-China Friendship Society
Zhongshan is best known in China as the birthplace of Dr. Sun Yatsen, the founder of the Chinese Republic. It is today a major logistics centre in China which serves as a hub thanks to its many bonded warehouses. The city is also reputed for many Chinese brands that have been developed there.
Dr. Jayaweera briefed the visiting delegation on Sri Lanka’s orientation in investment, notably with focus on the manufacturing sector. He also stated that Sri Lanka’s main strengths are an excellent geographic location and a very business-friendly environment. The visitors were assured of the Board’s support should they wish to invest in the country.
The BOI Chairman also described new infrastructure development such as a 12,000 acre Export Processing Zone at Anuradhapura which will add to the existing capacity of the 12 BOI zones and the new ones at Mirijjavila and Sooriyaweva.
Another groundbreaking project will be the Colombo Port City which is an ambitious BOI project, whereby 600 acres of land will be reclaimed from the sea near the Colombo Harbour.
The site will be used to build a modern business district. This will help Colombo emerge as a vibrant business centre as planned in the ‘Mahinda Chinthana,’ the Government’s economic and social blueprint.
Dr. Jayaweera also added that Sri Lanka is currently developing hub-type operations, signifying that the country has in place a free port regime. Sri Lanka can aspire in the future to develop along the lines of Singapore and other East Asian nations.
These hub operations will benefit considerably from the free trade agreement that Sri Lanka will enter into with China in 2014. When combined with the existing free trade agreements that currently exist between Sri Lanka and India and with Pakistan, the hub operation will be greatly strengthened by this expanded market access into leading Asian economies.
One industry that is likely to take off thanks to his hub-type operation is the manufacture of electrical and electronic products.
The leader of the Chinese delegation Cen Hongkai, Vice Secretary General of the Zhongshan Municipal People’s Government expressed confidence in the possibility for exchanges between his City and Sri Lanka.
He stated: “Zhongshang has a GDP of $ 43 billion, in an area of 500 square kilometres and a per capita income of $ 14,000. The main industries, which have a potential for foreign investment include electronics, electrical appliances and furniture manufacture. In addition due to its very high standards, the Chinese Government has awarded Zhongshang the prestigious prize of ‘National Civilised City’.”
Cen also said: “Zhongshang is the home of 23 enterprises and some of these companies, which are represented at this meeting today, have expressed interest in investing in Sri Lanka. Let me stress that these are enterprises which have exports which are more than $ 1 billion.”
Cen invited the BOI to participate at the Zhongshong Trade Fair to be held this year. He concluded with his impressions of Sri Lanka saying: “Sri Lanka is a beautiful, safe and clean country with considerable opportunities for development and investment.”
