FCCISL, FPCCI sign agreement
Daily News, Sri Lanka
FCCISL, FPCCI sign agreement
30 November 2010
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) and Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) at the Sri Lanka-Pakistan Business Forum 2010 yesterday.
Speaking to the Daily News Business FCCISL President, Tissa Jayaweera said this was a corporation agreement signed by two chambers mainly to promote investments and business in the two countries.
He said there are 4,000 items in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
However, around 10 to 15 percent of these items are actively utilized under the agreement. “With the sound economic environment in Sri Lanka and Pakistan we must now utilize the rest of the items mentioned in the agreement aggressively,” he said.
“It is important that business delegations from Sri Lanka and Pakistan should visit the countries and seek for venture opportunities. Pakistan is one of the largest suppliers of cement to Sri Lanka and we export betel in a large scale. The two countries have maintained a good trade relations and it is good timing to strengthen the ties in an active manner,” Jayaweera said.
Sri Lanka is looking at attracting around US$ two billion Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) yearly to accelerate the development. Thus, Pakistan investments will be a great opportunity for Sri Lanka, he said.
