Regional prospects for cooperation in transport and communication

SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SAARC CCI) along with the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) has organised a very timely programme to the region to create and optimise opportunities, based on the concept; Regional Connectivity in South Asia and its Prospects for Cooperation in Transport and Communication. Sri Lanka will be the hosting nation for this enormous programme under the patronage of FCCISL at Galle Face Hotel in Colombo on 28 July 2011.

The importance of better transport and communication facilities cannot be ignored for regional cooperation and connectivity. The transport and communication system among South Asian countries remains fragmented despite the existence of basic infrastructure. The costs for poor connectivity are high even for non-landlocked countries. There is an extraordinary need to improve regional connectivity, particularly physical, economic and people-to-people connectivity. Not only road and railway corridors, inland waterway transport and aviation too offer prospects for better regional transport connectivity. The Leaders at 16th SAARC Summit also declared 2010-2020 as the Decade of Intra-regional Connectivity in the SAARC. SAARC CCI has invited the Minister of Aviation of the Government of Sri Lanka to inaugurate the seminar. The inaugural session of the programme will be followed by working session which will focus on “Physical Connectivity: Challenges and Prospects under SAFTA-country perspective”. The Seminar will bring together academic experts, business professionals, members of SAARC CCI from all SAARC countries to share views and participate in the open discussions with the other participants.  This is the first time SAARC CCI has organised an event of this magnitude towards improving the Transport and Communication in the SAARC Region, as Sri Lanka and its businesses engaged in Service such as Air Travel, Sea Transportation and Communication will unquestionably benefit from this programme, the speakers are specially chosen from the SAARC region who are authorities in the subject content, who will be discussing of the journey towards a united SAARC region, which will create many opportunities to Sri Lanka for its strategic location in the region.

FCCISL will open this event to organisations currently engaged in this sector namely Aviation, shipping, Logistics, Transportation, Courier etc. to participate to gain maximum opportunities in the region. Further it will enhance the network connectivity between countries and in addition businesses in the region.

The programme will be conducted in two sessions and the morning session will be the seminar and the evening event will be a discussion with the experts and the parliamentarians.  Participation is only on registration due to limited space, and registration has already commenced at the FCCISL.  Please contact Carmen — [email protected] or Shazly Oowise — [email protected] or the International Affairs Division on telephone 2304253-4 or Mobile 0777309776/0777351404.