Three int’l MoUs to be signed at first Colombo ATPF today

• First Asian Trade Promotion Forum to be held in Colombo opens today
• President scheduled to launch MoUs
• ‘Sri Lanka honoured’- EDB’s Egodage
• HSBC partners EDB in pioneering event
• 40 top Asian TPO leaders in Colombo

The first set of international MoUs to blossom under Sri Lanka’s new Government went live yesterday in Colombo. The historic pacts centre round Sri Lanka’s global trade. 

“Sri Lanka EDB is proud to host the 28th CEO meeting of the Asian Trade Promotion Forum (ATPF) in Colombo. ATPF has honoured Sri Lanka by bringing this series to Colombo for the first time in its history,” said Bandula Egodage Chairman and CEO of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board).

Egodage was addressing his top officials on 21 August during the preparatory meeting on the 24-26 August pioneering ATPF sessions in Colombo. 

“This is the first time that this APTF CEOs meeting is being held in Sri Lanka. The EDB is hosting the 28th CEO meeting of the ATPF in Sri Lanka from 24-26th August 2015 in partnership with HSBC,” said EDB Chairman Egodage, adding: 

“ATPF is a gathering of Trade Promotion Organizations (TPOs) in the Asian region consisting of 24 member countries and was initiated by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) the Japanese government-related organisation which works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world. 

“The objective of ATPF is to enhance trade in the region and strengthen networking between members. The CEOs of member TPOs from Japan, Sri Lanka, China, Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, Nepal, Macao, Chinese Taipei, Vietnam, Australia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Singapore, Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, and Myanmar meet once a year to discuss important issues on international trade promotion and other relevant matters, including results of joint projects and plans for future events. Around 40 member delegates from 19 ATPF member countries are taking part in this event with other distinguished invitees -both foreign and local. The specially designed logo for the CEOs meeting in Sri Lanka is scheduled to be launched by President Maithripala Sirisena at Hotel Taj on the eve of 24 August. More importantly, three EDB MoUs with three Asian TPOs - Sri Lanka-Hong Kong’s HKTDC, Sri Lanka-Korea’s KOTRA and Sri Lanka-Thailand’s DITP - are to be signed on 24 August,” he said. 

The EDB-hosted technical trade sessions will run from 25-26 August at the same venue with the participation of 40 visiting international delegates. According to Geneva’s International Trade Centre, ATPF is the world’s leading regional TPO grouping.