The 13th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka–France Business Council (SLFBC) of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce was held recently. The Ambassador for France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Jean-Marin Schuh hosted the event at his official residence.
The event was attended by Sri Lanka Ambassador designated to France, Buddhi Athauda, the members and guests.
The SLFBC was launched in 2004 under the aegis of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce with the primary objectives of promoting trade, tourism and investments and services between Sri Lanka and France and vice versa.
Dr. Asanka Ratnayake, Group Director, Hayleys Advantis Limited was re-elected as the President of the Council for 2017-2018. In his address Dr. Ratnayake emphasized the importance of France as a trading partner for Sri Lanka. Highlighting the key activities and events undertaken by the Business Council, Dr. Ratnayake said the interactive luncheon meeting with Agence Française de Développement (AFD) under the theme ‘France: AFD Group, a committed finance partner to Sri Lanka’. Senior Investment officer of Propaco India, Yatin Kundra and Director, AFD Colombo office, Martin Parent made presentations on AFD and Propaco’s activities and how the business community could connect with them. Over 60 persons from business sectors of member and non-member companies were present.
On networking front, the SLFBC partnered with the Cultural Section of the Embassy of France at ‘Beujolais Nouveau’ - celebration of the launch of new wine. The event was held in November 2016 at the Waters Edge.
It was open for Business Council members and their guests to participate and connect with French Culture.
With positive changes in the regulatory environment, the European Union approved GSP+ concessions to Sri Lanka in May this year.
This opens up a plethora of new opportunities for Sri Lankan exporters to enhance trading with French companies.
The President briefed the members of a business forum that is proposed to be conducted in France in collaboration with Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), Board of Investment (BOI), and Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) together with Sri Lankan Embassy in France. The purpose of the joint forum is to promote Sri Lanka as a most lucrative country for investment and trade in the South East Asian region.
The effort is to market the country through a joint collaborative effort. The chief guest, Jean-Marin Schuh outlined the steady growth in trade and tourism between Sri Lanka and France and acknowledged the improved strength in bilateral relationships between the two countries.
He commended the efforts to build strong relationships and the MoU to be signed between the EDB and Business France. The Business Council also bid adieu to Hugues Reydet, the Economic Counsellor of the French Embassy, on completing his assignment in Sri Lanka.
Senake Amerasinghe, Managing Director, Carmart Limited and Godfrey Aloysius, Managing Director, Free Lanka Trading Company (Pvt) Limited were appointed as vice presidents for the ensuing year. Associated Motorways (Pvt) Limited, CMA-CGM Lanka (Pvt) Limited, Delmege Forsyth & Company Limited, Infotechs (Pvt) Limited and Noyon Lanka (Pvt) Ltd were elected from the membership to serve on the Executive Committee of the Council. Dilipan Tyagarajah of Alstom serves the Committee as the immediate past president.