The National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted Mr. Dharmapala Weerakkody (Director General for South Asia of Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Sri Lankan High Commissioner designated to Bangladesh recently at the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka. The objective of this meeting was to explore and discuss bilateral trade and investment opportunities between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
National Chamber President, Mr. Deepal Nelson delivered the opening remarks welcomed the High Commissioner and emphasized the importance of his presence at the National Chamber to meet the leaders in the business community. This session was attended by the office bearers of the National Chamber, Mr. Andre Fernando – President of Sri Lanka Bangladesh Business Co-operation Council and several leaders from the business community.
Mr Weerakkody provided a comprehensive overview of the business landscape in Bangladesh and emphasized that there is immense potential for Sri Lankan business community to engage in export trade where the demand is significant on industrial products. This meeting brought together participants from leading organizations in Sri Lanka, who are currently engaged with their business operations in Bangladesh and looking forward to exploring expansion opportunities. This event served as a platform for the business community to express and discuss their challenges in carrying out the export/import trade activities with Mr. Weerakkody and get his attention towards fostering closer economic ties and eliminating barriers for collaboration between the two nations. Valuable information regarding tariffs and non-tariff barriers, visa requirements-related issues, investment and opportunities for export/import were discussed.
Mr Weerakkody stressed that there is a great necessity to get into MoU with Bangladesh to promote Sri Lankan export trade. He stressed that he would be earnestly looking into the challenges expressed by the local business community with the deeper understanding gathered during this discussion. The business community representatives were appreciative of the fact that this discussion was organized by the National Chamber to express their business-related bottlenecks directly with the designated High Commissioner to Bangladesh and request viable solutions.
