Over 15 top French firms eye Sri Lanka

By Ananth PALAKIDNAR

More than 15 leading French companies have expressed their willingness to collaborate with Sri Lanka in the areas of construction, water management, lighting and phamaceuticals.

Representatives from leading French companies met Minister of Export Development and International Trade Prof. G. L. Peiris in Lyon, the second largest city in France and a key area with several commercial activities, recently.

With the end of war against terrorism in Sri Lanka, the French tour operators also informed Minister Peiris that they were making arrangements to fly 5,000 tourists into Sri Lanka during the four months commencing next month.

Minister Peiris apprised the France Minister of State for Trade and Economy Madame Anne Marie Idrac the strong interest shown by the corporate sector in Lyon, France.Minister Peiris emphasized Sri Lanka's achievement in raising her per caplta income level to more than US 2,015 a year. He referred to the Government's sustained efforts to uplift the social and economic conditions in rural areas of the country.

One of the main modalities for achieving this, he said was through employment in garment factories, many of which are in the rural heartland of Sri Lanka.

Garments represent today, the country's dominant export, bringing in foreign exchange of over US 3.1 billion per year.

A significant feature of this situation, the Minister told Madame Idrac, is that the overwhelming majority of the employees in these garment factories are women who have become breadwinners for their families.

Consequently, the objectives of gender equality and women's empowerment have been considerably accomplished by the growth of the apparel sector,its expansion being greatly assisted by the concessionary access now available to the markets of the European Union.