Petro dollars for Lankan professionals in ME
by Jayampathy Jayasinghe
[email protected]
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." |