Sri Lanka launches online platform in China to promote exports, investments
Source:FT
The Sri Lanka Embassy in Beijing assisted Hairong Technology Co. Ltd. to organise the introduction of the Sri Lanka Online Platform, along with an investment promotion seminar (SEIC 2021) at the Embassy on 11 July.
The main objective of the event was to provide an online platform for Sri Lankan exporters seeking to access the lucrative Chinese market. This platform will encourage potential investors to explore the opportunities available in Sri Lanka as well. The platform was officially launched by Ambassador of Sri Lanka to China Dr. Palitha Kohona and Hairong Technology General Manager John Pan.
The invitees included presidents of state-owned enterprises in China and CEOs of private companies.
Ambassador Dr. Kohona invited the investors to consider Sri Lanka as their first choice for investment. He said that the political stability, the relatively better performance in controlling the pandemic, and the vaccination drive are some of the recent developments which should encourage investor confi-dence. He explained the Government’s tax policy, especially corporate taxes, legal guarantees for in-vestment protection, etc. Ambassador Dr. Kohona especially requested potential investors to consider the new opportunities available in Colombo Port City, the Hambantota Industrial Zone, the Eravoor Fabric Park, and the other Free Trade Zones in Sri Lanka.
He expressed his confidence that with the vaccination program, which had been vigorously undertak-en in Sri Lanka with the Sinopharm vaccine, the pandemic would be brought under control. Ambassa-dor Dr. Kohona opined that Sri Lanka will welcome tourists subject to the health protocols.
Sri Lanka tourism videos were screened following the Ambassador’s speech. China Metallurgical Group (MCC) Vice President Xu Xiangchun and Jon Pan also spoke at the event. They shared their experiences of investing in Sri Lanka.
These were followed by a Q&A session by the Ambassador and Senior Managers from Chinese enter-prises with experience in Sri Lankan. During the Q&A session, Hairong Tech General Manager Leo Pan and Xu Xiangchun shared their experiences in Sri Lanka. General Manager Leo specifically emphasised on the huge number of investment opportunities in Sri Lanka, in particular, the tourism, agriculture and renewable energy sectors. Vice President Xu said that MCC was exploring the possibility of invest-ing in the mineral sands sector and producing organic fertiliser. Wang Miaoyuan from the Huadian Group said that they are interested in investing in wind power and PV power generation.
