Press Releases

Visit of Business Mission from Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

July 11, 2015

A high-powered thirteen member Business Mission from Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) visited Colombo from 11-13 December, 2011. The Business Mission was led by Mr. S. Gopalakrishnan, Vice President of CII & Executive Co-Chairman, Infosys Ltd. The other members of the delegation consisted of Mr. T. T. Ashok (Taylor Rubber Pvt Ltd), Mr. S. Chandrashekar (Bhoruka Power Corporation Ltd), Mr. S. Balasubramaniam (MARG Ltd), Mr. Naveen Bansal (Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd), Mr. Pranab K Bose (Waterford Institute India), Mr. Biju V Jakob (ICICI Bank), Mr. Sreekant Lekshmivarahan (TVS and Sons Ltd), Mr. Ranjan Mallick (Alstorm Projects India Ltd), Mr. Giridhar Rao (Griffith Laboratories Ltd), Mr. Vineet Varma (Brigade Hospitality Services Ltd), Mr. S. Sen (Confederation of Indian Industry) and Mr. GD Sharma (Confederation of Indian Industry). The main business interest areas of the delegation members were IT/BPO, auto components, metal and plastic products, electronic and engineering products, hydro power generation, real estate, financial services, educational services, tourism, agriculture etc.
During the visit the Indian business delegation had meetings with H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka, Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development and Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry & Commerce. The High Commissioner of India, H.E. Ashok K. Kantha also received the business delegation. They also had meetings with Mr. Janaka Ratnayake, Chairman, Export Development Board and Mr. S. M. Gotabbya Jayarathne, Secretary, Ministry of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing & Common Amenities. Ceylon Chamber of Commerce organized a business to business meeting for the delegation.
Mr. S. Gopalakrishnan, Vice President of CII & Executive Co-Chairman, Infosys Ltd. during the meeting with H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa reiterated that Sri Lanka is a priority country for Indian Industry. Mr. Gopalakrishnan said that CII would partner with relevant institutions in Sri Lanka in capacity building and training of human resources at various Centre of Excellence run by CII. Mr. Gopalakrishnan offered to train 200 Sri Lankan students at Infosys training facilities at Mysore, and modalities for this would be worked out with the Government of Sri Lanka.
During the meeting with Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development, the Indian delegation assured that CII would work closely with Sri Lankan side to develop various investment proposals and disseminate the opportunities available in Sri Lanka among the members of Confederation of Indian Industry. Mr. Gopalakrishnan said that Indian companies will leverage the policy support provided by the Government of Sri Lanka to set up priority industries like pharmaceuticals, IT and tourism and hospitality. CII also agreed to share their experience and expertise to promote rural entrepreneurship through home based micro enterprises and "rural BPO". Hon. Basil Rajapaksa said that his government is keen to develop three and four star hotels and invited Indian companies to invest in this sector. He also invited Indian companies to invest in vegetarian restaurants in the country. CII also offered to identify partners for capacity building and training of staff for hospitality inustry. Discussion also focused on cooperation in the education sector. CII agreed to send an education delegation to Sri Lanka next year for further discussion.
During the meeting with Indian delegation Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry & Commerce confirmed his participation at the "Partnership Summit" to be held in Hyderabad from 11-13 January, 2012. An invitation to participate in this event was extended by Hon. Anand Sharma, Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Textile.
CII also confirmed sending a business delegation for Sri Lanka Expo 2012. CII is partnering High Commission of Sri Lanka in New Delhi to promote Sri Lanka Expo 2012.
During the visit of H.E. the President of Sri Lanka to India in June last year, the two countries agreed for closer economic integration, building on the progress achieved through the FTA and the need for intensive consultations towards developing a comprehensive framework for sustainable economic partnership between the two countries. CII business delegation requested the Sri Lankan Government for early conclusion of a comprehensive economic partnership agreement between India and Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan side assured the Indian delegation that they are taking necessary steps for early conclusion of an agreement for closer economic cooperation.
India is the largest trade partner of Sri Lanka. Trade between the two neighbors has surged six times since 2000 when bilateral Free Trade Agreement came into force. The bilateral trade turnover has crossed US$ 4.1 billion between January-October 2011 and is likely to touch US $5 billion mark by the year end. In 2000, the bilateral trade turnover amounted to US$ 658 million.
India is among the top four investors in Sri Lanka and was the largest FDI source in 2010 with investments worth US$ 110 million. The cumulative Indian investment of India into Sri Lanka since 2003 has crossed 650 million USD. Several Indian companies have planned investments in the Island in the coming years. Likewise, investments by Sri Lankan companies in India too are surging as Sri Lankan businesses take advantage of India's dynamic economy.
CII is a non-government, industry led and industry managed body representing over 8100 organizations (direct membership) from the private and public sectors, SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 90,000 companies from around 400 national and regional sectoral associations. CII was founded 116 years ago. It works closely with Ceylon Chamber of Commerce to foster business and economic linkages between the two countries.