Trade and commercial co-operation to dominate bilateral relationship between Norway and Sri Lanka
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Seated Left to right Jehan Perinpanayagam, Her Excellency Trine Joranli Eskedal, Merrick Gooneratne, Prasath Mahalingam, Lilakshi de Mel and Andre Fernando Standing Left to right Ousman Anthony, Sarath Weerasuriya, Bobby J. Hansen, Maleena Awn and Kapila Abeywardena
Norway expects that enhancing trade and commercial co-operation to emerge as prime areas of interaction between Norway and Sri Lanka as traditional development co-operation is on the decline.
Addressing The 19th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka – NORDIC Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce recently, the Ambassador of Norway in Sri Lanka, Trine Joranli Eskedal highlighted that Sri Lanka in particular has many new opportunities to expand trade and investment by identifying new niche markets and products.
“Sri Lanka is a gateway to almost 3 billion people in South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, and is located close to some of the busiest trading routes in the world. The country is therefore well positioned to become a leading trade and maritime hub in Asia,” she pointed out.
The Ambassador noted that the promotion of business cooperation between Norway and Sri Lanka, including increased trade and investment, is one of her key priorities during her term.
Further she assured that the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sri Lanka was looking forward to continuing the partnership with the NORDIC Business Council and supporting Sri Lanka on its development journey.
She noted that Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, which is managed by the Norwegian Central Bank, had a total of $ 114 million investments in Sri Lankan stocks at the end of 2019, investing in 20 Sri Lankan companies.
The Sri Lanka – NORDIC Business Council was inaugurated in 2001 to promote trade, tourism investment and services between Sri Lanka and Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and vice versa. The Sri Lanka – NORDIC Business Council of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce continues to act as the vital link between Sri Lanka and the partner countries, to develop new initiatives and areas of corporation in terms of trade, tourism and investment.
The Business Council membership comprise a wide spectrum of companies engaged in infrastructure, logistics and services, financial services, tourism and leisure, import and export trading, manufacturing, ICT and telecommunication.
Prasath Mahalingam from 99X Technology Limited was elected unanimously as the new President of the Council at the AGM held in Colombo on 21st of September this year.
