The 12th Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka- Greater Mekong Business Council was held at the Hilton Colombo Residences recently.
Ambassador of Myanmar, Han Thu, Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Vietnam, Tran Trong Thanh, and Chief Negotiator of the International Trade Office, K. J. Weerasinghe were present.
Thanh encouraged Sri Lankan companies to take advantage of the growing opportunities in Vietnam in sectors such as trade, investment, and tourism, to expand their businesses and develop bilateral trade and relations.
He said that being tropical countries with similar biological systems and agricultural products, Vietnam is keen to engage in knowledge exchange with Sri Lanka, particularly focusing on modern farming techniques and food processing.
Chief Negotiator of the International Trade Office, K. J. Weerasinghe provided in-depth insights on the Thailand-Sri Lanka FTA followed by an interactive Q&A session that centered around the Government’s emphasis on international trade agreements in line with its vision for economic growth. The discussion also delved into strategies for market and product diversification.
Weerasinghe offered a brief update on the current status of negotiations with various countries, such as Thailand, Singapore, China, and India. An overview of the Tariff Liberalisation Program was also presented as an integral component of these trade agreements. S.M.D. Suriyakumara was re-elected as the President for 2023-2024.
In his address, he acknowledged the strong bond between Sri Lanka and Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar, characterised by close political and trade relations, and committed to pursuing opportunities for trade and investment with Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, with renewed vigour.
Nishan Seneviratne, Jude Fernando, and Nimal Ratnayake were elected Vice Presidents.
Member companies Advantis Projects and Engineering, Astron, Capitol Developers, MAC Holdings, Spillburg Holdings were elected to the Committee.
Ranil Seneviratne, Director will continue to serve on the Committee as the Immediate Past President.
