CCC and AB Partner AS in business match-making

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and Advance Business (AB) Partner AS of Norway, which were earlier partners of the Sri Lanka-Norway Business Match-Making program (BMMP) with the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, signed a MoU to continue the program under a new arrangement. The Chamber and Advance Business Partner AS of Norway will be the only partners, who will continue with the Business Match-Making Program under the new arrangement .

CEO and Secretary General of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Mangala P. B. Yapa and Chairman of Advance Business Partner AS Norway, Tom Albrigtsen, signed the agreement.

The new arrangement will support trade and investment between Sri Lanka and Norway, where facilitation will take place to build business links with firms in the two countries.

The earlier program, which was launched in 1994 continued under five phases where nearly 175 Norwegian firms engaged in Joint Ventures, technical and export partnerships.

According to the Project Director, BMMP, Inge Reithaug, the program has created 7,000 direct and indirect job opportunities. Exports from Sri Lanka to Norway have increased five-fold since 1994 and accounted for an annual income of US$ 19 million in 2014.

Project facilitation was done by the Managers, Business and Trade Promotion at the Chamber, Kevin Wijeratne and Yasura Samarakoon.