Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the bilateral trade between Sri Lanka and Vietnam will be increased from US$ 364.42 million to US$ 1 billion within coming years.
He was delivering the keynote speech at the Sri Lanka-Vietnam Investment Forum held on April 18 at the La Veranda Hall of the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel, Ha Noi on April 18.
The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Vietnam organised the Forum to coincide with the official visit of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to Viet Nam.
The Prime Minister highlighted the importance of promoting tourism between two countries. He said South Asia and the Middle East have growing economics and the growing of the middle class of those regions are obvious, and therefore Vietnamese business can make good use of it. The Prime Minister pointed out the importance of the positioning of the Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean to become a logistic, business and financial hub. He said the present Unity Government of Sri Lanka has focuses on political stability, reconciliation between different ethnic groups and promoting highly competitive social market economy. The Prime Minister said the Sri Lankan has a niche market in Europe with its garments known for ethical manufacturing as well as solid tyres. He said market would expand for Sri Lankan products more with regaining GSP+ facility to EU market. He said Sri Lanka is ready to become a manufacturing hub to boom the service sector - especially Information and Digital Technology, Off-shore Financing, Healthcare and Agricultural Services. The Prime Minster invited Vietnamese business community to visit Sri Lanka to explore investment opportunities in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan Ambassador in Vietnam Hasanthi Urugodawatte Disaanayake recalled rapid growth in bilateral political and economic relations with both countries being fast developing economies, having emerged from very painful conflicts. She added that as Sri Lanka makes firm strides in the post-conflict era, reconciling the past and building the future, Sri Lanka does draw inspiration from Vietnam for its tremendous economic progress in the last two decades.
"As the Industries, Science and Technology Minister, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe was responsible for Sri Lanka's second round of economic liberalisation that commenced in 1989, focusing on financial de-regularisation and industrial promotion in rural areas through infrastructure development and the institution of industrial estates; a testimony for his visionary thoughts turned into action, she said.
Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Minister Harin Fernando said the possibility of using Sri Lanka as a gateway to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh by the Vietnamese businesses. He said Sri Lanka is an emerging economy in the South Asia region like Viet Nam is an emerging economy in South East Asia. He said that according to international economic agencies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh are poised to be the fast growing economies in next 20-30 years with fast growing GDP and low cost of manufacturing, apart from that India and China.
The Minister highlighted the benefits expected to accrue from Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement as well as other bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that Sri Lanka is party to. He said Sri Lanka can be used as an industrial base and value added logistic hub by Vietnam to enter the Indian market.
“Through the China-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Singapore, Vietnamese business could grab further opportunities,” the Minister said.
Chairman and the President of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Dr. Vu Tien Loc recalled the Vietnam-Sri Lanka Business Forum held in Colombo during the visit of former Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang to Sri Lanka in October 2011 and the practical guidance shared by President Sang on further developing economic and trade ties between the two countries. He said both countries are now cooperating closely and since recently had seen surge of activities for economic cooperation and this new trend is good and is beneficial. He said the Sri Lanka–Vietnam Investment Forum would be a good opportunity for Sri Lankan and Vietnamese businesses to get-to-know about business environment in each other’s country’s, exchange information, seek more business opportunities which would contribute to the development of trade and investment relations between Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
Board of Investment (BOI) Executive Director S. P.K. Wijeyathilake, made a detailed presentation highlighting investment opportunities in Sri Lanka for foreign investors, while Saman Maldeni, Director - Export Services of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board made a presentation on the opportunities for trade between the two countries. Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies Chairman (SLASSCOM) Dr. Arul Sivaganathan, spoke about opportunities in the IT and BPM service sector in Sri Lanka.
The Forum was sponsored by the BOI and supported by the VCCI. Around 30 leading Vietnamese and foreign business personalities attended.