3C trade mission ends with high satisfaction for visiting US delegates

Thursday, 14 February 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Visiting US delegates were highly satisfied with their visit to Colombo, according to AMCHAM President Vijaya Ratnayake.

“The delegation expressed that they are hopeful of business partnerships materialising in the near future with Sri Lanka,” Ratnayake told the Daily FT.

At a debriefing held at the conclusion of the one-to-one meeting with local companies, the visiting delegates had stated to the AMCHAM that their visit to Sri Lanka was extremely productive. On meeting 70 business persons from 45 organisations, Ratnayake said that the delegation acknowledged that the “local companies had showed high professionalism and business knowledge,” in comparison to what they had experienced in Chennai and Cochin. Being more of a seller/investor delegation than a buyer/importer delegation, the visitors from the US came in with goods and services to offer to the Sri Lankan market and were looking forward to partnerships and investment opportunities in their respected areas of specialty.

Prior to the one-on-one consultative sessions, the delegation received a comprehensive briefing by a panel put together by AMCHAM on the business processes in Sri Lanka. While the forum encouraged the delegates to clarify any doubts or misconceptions they had on the business practices of the nation, a few questions on tax policies, money transacting, and potential areas of translating the country’s economic development to business partnerships with the US were raised.

Members of the panel included KPMG Managing Partner Reyaz Mihular who gave a deep insight on ‘doing business in Sri Lanka’ in a macro, micro and FDI perspective, which highlighted areas of economic resurgence, transformations, challenges, value propositions and critical success factors of facilitating ventures in the country. Citibank CEO Ravin Basnakaye gave an overview of the establishment of US companies in Sri Lanka, Citibank itself as an example.

Few of the delegates chose to stay back for couple of more days in Sri Lanka to enjoy its hospitality and acknowledged it to be one of the top destinations they had visited for leisure.