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Liu is also the Chairman of the Lions Club in Dalian and has engaged in large scale real estate development in the city. The Lions Club has recently made inroads in China. Lions Clubs are already established in 10 major Chinese cities.
The BOI was represented by Dilip S. Samarasinghe, Director (Media & Publicity), Nilupul de Silva, Director (Promotion) and Kumudini Ratnaweera Deputy Director (Investment). BOI officials briefed the delegation on the target sectors promoted by the BOI and also on opportunities Sri Lanka offers investors.
Also covered were the current statuses of Chinese investment in Sri Lanka. At present there are over 30 Chinese companies which have established investment in Sri Lanka in a wide range of areas such as manufacturing, tourism and fisheries.
There are also large scale constructions projects of which the Colombo Port City is the most high profile Chinese project to be set up under the BOI.
Liu expressed his views on Sri Lanka: “We are very happy to be in this beautiful country with beautiful sunshine, fresh air and the 12 members of our delegation who are engaged in various businesses are all Lions, who are good hearted people. We wish to do good things in Sri Lanka and to develop co-operation between Sri Lanka and China. Currently our members are using their excess resources to help the people of China but we will extend this to other friendly countries such as Sri Lanka.
“China and Sri Lanka have a long history of friendship and co-operation. We are like ‘gemer’ (a Chinese term for close friendship). This is the first time we are in Sri Lanka but not the last time and when we come back next it will be with more detailed project proposals.”
In the recent years the BOI has extensively targeted China as a source for investment and has published promotional literature in Chinese which are also posted on the Board’s website. The Board is currently engaged in the production of a Chinese language promotional video.
Among the members of the Dalian delegation was Bi Guang a well-known artist in China who will be recording his travel to Sri Lanka through the medium of painting.
Bi Guang said that he will be exhibiting in Chinese cities his paintings of his Sri Lankan visit in order to create better awareness among the Chinese public of the island nation. On his next visit to Sri Lanka, he will be accompanied by a group of Chinese artists.
