It is one of India’s leading Chamber of Commerce and Industry with a 110 year history and it reaches around 200,000 businesses In India, covering a wide range of Industries including Apparel/Textiles/Fashion accessories, Food Products, Pharmaceuticals, Steel, Metal, Engineering goods, Construction and Building material, Electricals & Electronics, health & Beauty products, Machinery/Mechanical appliance, IT & ITes, Plastic & Rubber products, Automobiles/Auto components, Energy & Power, Security & Protection, Gifts & Crafts, Leather products, Consumer durables and many others.
The delegation visiting Sri Lanka was on a mission to look at opportunities for investment in the Island. Its leader was Dr. Lalit Kanodia, President of the IMC and Chairman of the Datamatics Global Services Ltd Knowledge Centre in Mumbai. Dr. Kanodia expressed his confidence in Sri Lanka and saw many opportunities for economic interaction between India and Sri Lanka.
The IMC delegation consisted of representatives from Podar Enterprise (Education, skill development, sports education), Eudora Enterprise LLP (Cosmetics and skin care products), Packam Controls Private Limited (Aluminium Products) Business Opportunities Club (Builders and property development), Coverstro (India) Private Limited (Polymer products manufacture), Ivory Soap Works Ltd (personal care products), Hindustan Electric Motors (Various type of Motors) Hyva India Pvt Ltd., (Hydraulic Products, Cranes), MIT World Peace University (Private Education) and Sirocco Partners (Investment Banking and Financial expertise).
The BOI team consisting of Ms Nilupul De Silva, Director (Promotion), Mr. Dilip Samarasinghe, Director (Media & Publicity) and Mr. Manilal Ranasinghe, Deputy Director (Promotion) briefed the Indian delegation on the opportunities that are currently available in Sri Lanka and the country’s target sectors for investment.
Currently Sri Lanka is actively promoting the Manufacturing sector with the view of producing technologically more advanced products to diversify the country’s export base. Furthermore, benefiting from Free Trade Agreements with India, Pakistan and more recently Singapore with the future likelihood of a Free Trade Agreement with China, in addition to the EU GSP+ facility, Sri Lanka is well poised to emerge as a hub for trade and investment.
With a cumulative Indian FDI of US$990 million in the 2005 – 2016 period, India is Sri Lanka’s 5th ranked investment generating country after Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and the UK. Indian investments to Sri Lanka are varied ranging from hotel chains to IT and manufacturing.
