Ceylon Chamber to strengthen SL-Czech trade ties | Sunday Observer

Ceylon Chamber to strengthen SL-Czech trade ties

30 September, 2018
The signing of the MoU
The signing of the MoU

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Czech Chamber of Commerce to building a dependable, pragmatic, and advantageous relationship and to establish friendly and cordial relations between Sri Lanka and Czech Republic.

The signing of the MoU took on the sidelines of the ‘Sri Lanka–Czech Republic Business Forum’ organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in association with the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Sri Lanka recently.

The signing of the MoU was initiated by Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Sri Lanka in India, Milan Hovorka following a discussion held during his visit to the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in July this year,

Milan Hovorka said, “The New Delhi based embassy to Sri Lanka is proud to bring together the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Czech Chamber of Commerce, because at present, bilateral trade is a mere USD 50 million, and there are almost no investments from either side. Therefore this is a step in the right direction to strengthen and promote business relations between the Czech Republic and Sri Lanka.” The chief guest, Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade, Malik Samarawickrama said, “A few of the Czech business delegation here today comprise representatives of the pharmaceutical sector. This is a sector with which we are actively looking to develop.

“We have a new industrial zone planned with the pharmaceutical sector specifically in mind, and also the requirements for high quality water, and intellectual property protection. We invite the Czech Republic to invest with us and deepen bilateral trade relations between our two countries.”

Samarawickrama also encouraged Czech businesses by highlighting the benefits of setting up in Sri Lanka such as availability of skilled labour, ease of doing business, favourable tax regime, and exceptional living conditions for expatriates. “The reason we arranged this business mission to Sri Lanka is because our economy exports four-fifths of its industrial production to Western European countries, and half of the exports are to our immediate neighbour Germany. We consider it very important to diversify our exports, and to cooperate with countries where we share commonalities and have had success in the past.

“This is the reason for our focus on Sri Lanka, because traditionally and historically we have enjoyed very good relations. Czech is a landlocked nation with limited resources and Czech Businesses are keen on seeking Joint Ventures in Sri Lanka to make use of our highly qualified labour and rich resources, in order to remain competitive and innovative.

“We are very interested in trade exchange in order to provide a wide variety of goods for the consumers of the Czech Republic whose wages are high and increasing,” said Milan Stech, President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic.

The Czech Chamber of Commerce is the representative body of the industrial and commercial entities of the Czech Republic set up with the objective of increasing the flow of trade by creating business opportunities and improving the business climate for the private sector.

Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Rajendra Theagarajah said, “We have similar objectives and we enter into an alliance with Czech Chamber to promote the private sector business entities to become reciprocal partners and to extend all support cooperation and assistance to each other for the overall benefit of both countries.” Rajendra Theagarajah and Vice President, Czech Chamber of Commerce Michal Stefl signed the MoU. President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Milan Stech, Ambassador Milan Hovorka, Mrs. Dhara Wijayatilake, Chief Executive Officer, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, and Dr. Lohitha Samarawickrema, Consul General for Czech Republic in Sri Lanka were also present.

The scope of the MoU would be to disseminate trade and investment related information to enhance bilateral trade and business, initiate/promote joint ventures, partnerships and other business links, provide technical expertise, arrange business promotion missions between the two countries, formulate proposals to accelerate bilateral relations and convene business fora and business matchmaking sessions.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, has signed 128 Memoranda of Understanding to expand and further strengthen strong relationships with overseas trade promotion organisations for the benefit of business community in Sri Lanka.

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