30 business leaders from India to attend Naam 200 with Finance Minister

A total of more than 30 business leaders from India will attend the 'Naam 200’ event today along with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, according to sources.

She will call on President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardane

The multi-city visit is expected to provide added momentum to economic and commercial engagements between the two countries. A Business Summit on the theme ‘Enhancing Connectivity: Partnering for Prosperity’, proposed to be held in Colombo on 2 November 2023 is a highlight of the visit.

A high power Indian business delegation, cutting across several industries, will take part in the Business Summit. The two leading Indian Industry bodies – Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) – will also be a part of the Summit.

The source said industry captains from India who are visiting Sri Lanka will actively seek investment opportunities in Sri Lanka towards achieving mutual benefits. For Sri Lanka, such investments hold the key to its economic recovery.

“India has reiterated on several occasions that they are committed to the economic recovery process in Sri Lanka. Highlighting the vital role of investments in this endeavour, India has underlined that mutually beneficial investments shall be an area of priority with regard to India- Sri Lanka bilateral relations. The CII delegation is led by its President-elect Sanjiv Puri, MD of ITC. (ITC One project, is a major investment in Sri Lanka nearing completion. India is currently the largest source of investments for Sri Lanka. The directive from the Finance Minister to the Indian industry representatives is to forge lasting and productive commercial and business relationships. India is also Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner and the two sides are currently engaged in the 12th round of ETCA – Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) – with a view to expand the scale of economic and commercial activities.

The Finance Minister informed Mahanayake of Asgiriya Chapter Most Venerable Warakagoda Sri Gnanarthana Thera that she will witness the exchange of MoU on solar electrification of religious places across Sri Lanka. This is the first project under the US $ 15 million grant assistance announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the promotion of Buddhist ties between the two countries.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was instrumental in fast tracking the multi-pronged assistance of US $ 4 billion to Sri Lanka in 2022.

She also advocated strongly for Sri Lanka with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a special package, during the economic and financial difficulties. Subsequently, India was the first bilateral creditor to provide a written assurance which paved way for the IMF package. (Kelum Bandara)