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Tuesday, 10 September 2013 00:18 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Chaterji was addressing Ministry of Industry and Commerce Secretary Anura Siriwardena at the Cinnamon Grand during her delegation’s official meeting with Sri Lanka’s delegation after the signing of the first-ever MoU between India and Sri Lanka earlier in the day at the Galadari Hotel.
During the successful Cinnamon Grand meeting, officials from both sides discussed the modalities of the morning MoU in depth and how to move forward and implement it in the coming months and agreed on the immediate steps.
The morning MoU signing event at the Galadari was attended by, among others, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka Y.K. Sinha, Brandix Lanka Chief Executive Officer Ashroff Omar, Senior Minister M. Fowzie, Chaterji, Indian Ministry of External Affairs Secretary P.S. Raghavan, Powerloom Development and Export Promotion Council of India (PDEXCIL) Chairman Visvanath Agarwal, Siriwardena and relevant officials and private sector reps from both countries.
The Memorandum of Understanding on new textile cooperation effort is the latest development in the aftermath of Indian announcement in September 2012 that Sri Lanka can export eight million apparel pieces at zero duty to India.
“The objective of this historic MoU is the expansion of business and cooperation in the development of SMEs in handloom, power-loom and textile sectors. The period of Memorandum of Understanding will remain in force for five years from the date of signing the MOU and it can be renewed thereafter. The key persons in the resulting Joint Working Group (JWC) are the co-chairs – the Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka and the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Textiles of the Republic of India – as well as members who will collaborate on this MOU. We strongly believe in the involvement of the private sectors of both countries in taking this process forward,” said Secretary Siriwardene, addressing the gathering at the MoU signing event.
“We also observe that there appears to be much more unrealised potential for Sri Lankan textiles to serve the Indian textile markets and we are confident that this delegation will understand and support us to further enhance this direction. I would like to stress our strong appreciation towards Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma, for his pioneering steps towards this bilateral textile MoU during his visit to Sri Lanka in 2012 as well as for his extension of our textile export quota to India from three million to eight million pieces as a result of the successful discussions he had with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ministers Basil Rajapaksa and Rishad Bathiudeen. We especially thank Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera for his untiring efforts in making this MoU a reality,” Siriwardena added.
Zohra, addressing the MoU signing said: “Textiles is an area which has immense promise for the mutual benefit of both our countries. Sri Lanka is India’s largest trade partner in South Asia. India is Sri Lanka’s biggest trade partner. Seeing that 45% of Sri Lanka’s exports account for garments, it is opportune for both countries to join hands to capture a larger global market share. The market opportunity is here and now it is for us to respond fast. Sri Lanka offers fast delivery, faster transit times and low transit costs; we are able to supply flexible quantities of your yarn requirements. There are opportunities for joint investments both ways.
The current MoU approved by Sri Lankan side is limited to SMEs of handloom, powerloom and textiles only, but the Indian Government will welcome larger engagement with all sectors of Sri Lanka’s value chain in the next stages, including handicrafts. For now we are happy to go along with your strategy of incremental approach in the textile cooperation process and we will keep the doors open for expanding this textile cooperation further.”
