Professional bodies to gain by exporting expertise

by Jayampathy Jayasinghe

Several Sri Lankan professional organisations will gain much by exporting their expertise.

Minister of Construction and Engineering Services, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said that Sri Lanka has received construction related orders for the first time, from Qatar state to the tune of USD 80 million.

He was speaking at the launch of the Exon 2008, Catalogue and Trade Fair 2008 of the Chamber of Construction Industry Sri Lanka, last week in Colombo.

The Minister said the relationship between Sri Lanka and Qatar was good and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two countries recently.

The Exon 2008 Trade Fair will be supported by the Ministry of Export Development and International Trade in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, he said.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chamber of the Construction Industry Sri Lanka, Dakshitha Thalgodapitiya said the Trade Fair has been designed to enhance the competitiveness of the domestic industry by promoting linkages among stakeholders such as property developers, contractors, vendors of construction equipment and professional service providers.

He said the event has brought the bigger players of the industry and the SME sector together. It has also brought together the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects and the Institute of Quantity Surveyors.

President of the Chamber of the Construction Industry, (CCI) Surath Wickramasinghe said Exon 2008 has paved the way for other professional organisations to do business with countries such as Qatar and Dubai by exporting their expertise.

He said the Chamber has already received confirmed participation from India, UK, Qatar and Dubai. Invitations have been extended to potential clients from the Sultanate of Oman, Bahrain, Iran, Vietnam and the Maldive Islands.

He said Exon 2008 will be used as a marketing tool for promotion of foreign direct investment in infrastructure development and construction related projects.

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