The Australian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Paul Stephens and his team met the Chairman/CEO of the Export Development Board (EDB), Mangala Wijesinghe to strengthen bilateral trade relations between Australia and Sri Lanka.
Australia is the eleventh largest export destination for Sri Lanka with total exports of USD 226.51 million last year and import origin with total imports of USD 185.89 million last year with a favourable trade balance for Sri Lanka of around USD 40 million.
Chairman Wijesinghe outlined the vision of the Government to export development and emphasised the importance of partnering in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and to expedite the approval process of FDIs to facilitate investors.
He said Sri Lanka must follow global trends in manufacturing to become a part of global supply chains and Sri Lanka must promote bilateral trade with Australian counterparts he said.
The High Commissioner said Australia had the potential to invest in the mineral sector as well as in joint ventures on export-led manufacturing. To develop Sri Lanka as a commodity hub for value addition of Australian agri commodities targeting export markets was also discussed.
Australian Deputy High Commissioner, Lalita Kapur, First Secretary, Dr. Paul Zeccola, Country Manager of Austrade, Shameel Javadh, Director Education of Austrade, Ms Sanduni Seneviratne and senior EDB officials were present.
