SEMSA to woo foreign investments

by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

[email protected]
 

Sri Lanka will be able to attract much needed foreign investments from Southern Europe when “South Europe meets South Asia (SEMSA) next year.

A strategic partnership among South European countries and South Asian Countries has been created to promote bilateral trade with assistance from the Asia Invest Program, an arm of the European Commission.

The project has been titled “South Europe Meets South Asia” (SEMSA).

The SEMSA project includes countries from South Asia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal and South European countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Slovenia.

Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’s Secretary General Prema Cooray said the direct investment to the South Asian region from European partners was very significant.

The SEMSA program was aimed at helping the Small and Medium (SME) sectors in the South Asian region.

He said Europe was Sri Lanka’s biggest trading partner and the alliance could bring in substantial gains to the South Asian region.

Where confectionery products are concerned Sri Lanka is growing steadily and making further inroads into the European market.

SEMSA is one of the few projects, the Chamber had initiated with the European Commission to promote trade in Sri Lanka, he said.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce with financial assistance from the Asia Program, will host a two-day match making event in Colombo next January to promote bilateral trade among these countries.

The SEMSA project will include food processing and the Information Technology sectors. The SEMSA project will be a boost for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal to expand trade ties with South European companies such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Slovenia.

The event will attract 120 Asian companies, including 60 from Sri Lanka, and 30 from Bangladesh and 30 from Nepal and another 60 South European companies with 15 each from Greece, Italy Spain and Slovenia.

“South Europe Meets South Asia 2009 is scheduled to be held at the BMICH from February, 27-28, 2009.

Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’s Senior Assistant General Secretary Chandraratne Vithanage said 180 companies from Southern Europe and from South Asia will participate in the conference.

This will be a unique event Sri Lanka had not witnessed before and would provide an ideal platform for bilateral trade between these countries. Sri Lanka stands to gain much from foreign investments, he said Mrs. Harsini Halalgoda, Program Manager of the Delegation of the European Union in Sri Lanka also spoke.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will be assisted by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCID) The Federation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Fundacion ADEuropa (ADE) Mondimpresa Euro Info Centre (MEIC), Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Drama (CCID) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (CCIS) to stage the event from February 27-28, 2009.