Petro dollars for Lankan professionals in ME

by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

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A highly acclaimed Indian banker who visited Sri Lanka from the Middle East last week said there were many opportunities for Sri Lankan professionals to tap the vast resources in the Middle East for Sri Lanka's economic development.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Doha Bank in the State of Qatar R. Seetharaman said the purpose of his visit was to promote bi-lateral trade, investment, banking and finance between the two countries.

He said there were over one million Sri Lankans employed in the Middle East. In the State of Qatar alone there were 130,000 Sri Lankans employed. Forty-five per cent of the world's oil and 22 per cent of the world's gas were in the Middle Eastern belt. With oil prices surging at 100 dollars per barrel there were vast investment opportunities in the Middle East. There were tremendous opportunities for Sri Lankans in these emerging markets.

They also hope to bring indirect foreign investment to Sri Lanka through the Doha Pact by initiating bi-lateral negotiations. Sri Lankan entrepreneurs and small, medium and large businessmen can exploit these investment opportunities. "Sri Lanka's economy when showcased in real terms to various investment authorities floating with billions of dollars, will have the opportunity of tapping such resources" he said.

To drive a point, he said during the global finance crisis the City Bank was funded by the Abu Dhabi investment authority.

Merrill Lynch was funded by Saudi funds UBS and Credit Suisse was funded by the Middle Eastern banks.

Seetharaman said he would set up a joint committee with D. Thalgodapitiya, Secretary General of the Chamber of Construction Industry to explore the possibility of attracting investments to the country.

"There was a dire need for human capital and infrastructure projects could not take place without skilled labour. For this purpose a trade pact had been signed with Qatar and Sri Lanka."