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“Sri Lanka SMEs need tech capability for them to advance. Your food processing, water bottling, dairy and livestock, and packaging are some of the SME sub-sectors that picked our immediate interest,” said Senior Consultant India of Switzerland Global Enterprise (SGE) Beat Ineichen, a global SME expert on 30 October in Colombo.
SGE Consultant Ineichen, who arrived in Sri Lanka on 26 October, was addressing Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen on 30 October during a courtesy call.
Previously, Ineichen already witnessed two special presentations on 28 October by the National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA) and the EDB under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, on Lankan SMEs and the forthcoming ‘Reflection Sri Lanka’ trade, tourism and investment exposition to be held parallel to the forthcoming CHOGM.
Consultant Ineichen’s SGE brand, the powerful entity operating under the Swiss Government, is Switzerland’s center of excellence for internationalisation and it is involved in exports, imports and investments (to Switzerland) and works very closely with Swiss SMEs to achieve these objectives.
Fact-finding mission
Director Schanzenbach was in Sri Lanka on a fact-finding mission, and to explore emerging and other investment opportunities here for Swiss investors, especially in Sri Lanka’s SMEs.
In 2012 Sri Lanka received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Switzerland totalling $ 14.46 million.
“I have 17 years of SME experience in Asia alone with four in Malaysia. I am here on a fact finding mission as a follow up to 3 October visit of Wolfgang Schanzenbach, Regional Director Asia Pacific of Switzerland Global Enterprise (SGE) who met you Minister.
“I am now hopeful that we collaborate closely with Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka can immensely benefit from the innovative side of Swiss SME, which is more than 95% of the Swiss economy, except for the big boys such as Nestle and Holcim,” said New Delhi based SGE Consultant Ineichen, and added: “We invite Sri Lankan SMEs to the forthcoming Asia Pacific SME event in Switzerland in June 2014, more details of which we will provide in the due course.
“I am also pleased to inform you that a Swiss Business Delegation of ten firms will be arriving in Sri Lanka for CHIOGM Biz forum led by Mark Dangel, Chairman of Sri Lanka Committee of the Swiss Asian Chamber of Commerce (SACC). Dangel co-founded Zurich’s Swiss merchant bank A&A Actienbank”.
Highly encouraged
Responding to Consultant Ineichen, Minister Bathiudeen said: “We are highly encouraged by SGE’s immediate follow up on my 3 October meeting with Wolfgang Schanzenbach, SGEs’ Regional Director Asia Pacific, in Colombo. This shows SGE’s keenness and action orientation which we believe can be a win-win for SMEs at both sides.
“The National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA) under my Ministry has launched an international level initiative to link our SMEs to global markets with the web portal sme.lk. In fact, I would say that this is the time that our SMEs need support than in any other times. I also urge SGE to focus on SME sector in the north and east so that the powerful SME capacities of these regions can be re-awakened.”
During the meeting, both Minister Bathiudeen and Ineichen also discussed Sri Lanka’s SME outlook, need for new SME data as well as NEDA’s many initiatives for Sri Lankan SME sector.
