Rubber delegation to Norway a great success

The rubber industry delegation from Sri Lanka to Norway which was organised by the long-standing Sri Lanka-Norway Business Matchmaking Program (BMMP) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce created history when they completed a successful week in Oslo recently.

The delegation consisted of Saiffudin Jafferjee (Jafferjee Bros Pvt Ltd), Dr.Mahesha Ranasoma (Dipped Products PLC), Wasantha Abeysirigunawardana, Dhammika Wijeratna (Richard Pieris Exports PLC), Lalith Jayawardena (Samson International PLC), Irshan Jayah (Elastomeric Eng. Co. Ltd), Raj Fernando (Polymer Products (Pvt) Ltd). The BMMP team members Gerry Suraweera, Nilan Thimbiripola, and Kevin Wijeratna also joined the delegation as coordinators.

The members participated in 34 meetings with Norwegian Companies and claimed that more than 50% of the meetings could bring in new business. Keen interest was shown by the Norwegians for mats and flooring, domestic and industrial gloves, trolley wheels and solid tyres, technical rubber products for the oil, construction, railway and marine industries. One of the Norwegian companies which has decided to develop an innovative product for the railroad industry is expected to visit Sri Lanka early next year.

The Sri Lankan companies state that this visit has opened the doors to the technical Rubber products market in Norway and are confident that they could meet the stringent standards in the oil and marine industries. Norwegian companies were also much impressed with the range and innovative new products in the industrial glove sector.

The Sri Lankan Ambassador in Norway Musthafa Jaffeer and Deputy Chief of Mission C.V. Rajapaksa, who participated in the inaugural meeting at the Norad Headquarters, extended their fullest cooperation and support to the Sri Lankan companies.

The Ambassador stated that at a time when there is an economic recession in the EU region, promoting business with the Nordic countries will be most far-sighted. He also thanked the AB Partners AS for organising the delegation activities in Norway. The delegation was also invited for a dinner at the Ambassador’s Residence prior to their departure.