Discover Sri Lanka: a Trading and a Trans-Shipment Hub for South Asia

The Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, in close collaboration with the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brussels, is organizing the Interactive Business Forum “Discover Sri Lanka: a Trading and a Trans-Shipment Hub for South Asia” on Wednesday, 16^th of May 2018 from 09:30 to 13:30 on the premises of the Chamber of Commerce (7, rue Alcide de Gasperi, Luxembourg). The Forum will be followed by a networking lunch and b2b meetings between the Luxembourgish and the Sri Lankan companies will be scheduled to take place in the afternoon. The agenda of the event as well as the list of the Sri Lankan companies are attached herewith.

Sri Lanka is a lower middle-income country of 21 million people. Since the civil war ended in 2009, the economy has grown on average at a rate of 5,8% a year, reflecting a peace dividend and a commitment to reconstruction and growth. The country is now transitioning from a predominantly rural-based economy towards a more urbanized economy oriented around manufacturing and services. Furthermore, Sri Lanka has made significant progress in its socio-economic and human development indicators. Social indicators rank among the highest in South Asia and compare favorably with those in middle-income countries.

The Forum will further pave the way for your future business activities with Sri Lanka enjoying the benefit of the EU GSP Plus (Generalised Scheme of Preferences) Concessions granted by the EU in 2017 and giving you an access to neighboring markets such as India and Pakistan utilizing the Free Trade Agreements that Sri Lanka has signed with those countries.

This event will be enhanced by the presence of H.E. Mr. E. Rodney M. Perera, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union, and will present the business opportunities in Sri Lanka for Luxembourgish companies, tips on the cultural and business approach and a testimonial of a Luxembourgish company successfully operating in Sri Lanka. Also, as part of the program, companies will have the possibility to meet Sri Lankan companies active in the fields of :

• ICT/ BPO (IT support Services, outsourcing, customer support, call center operations, human resources and payroll software, IoT, etc).
• Rubber products (solid tyres, pneumatic tyres, rubber compounds, tyre retreading and retreading materials & auxiliary molded rubber products).
• Apparel (woven/knit, jackets, pants, socks, hospitality wear, scrub suits, uniforms, bed linen, kitchen towels, designing inputs, etc).
• Cosmetic Products (Coconut/Black seed/Herbal/Ayurveda).
• Confectionary, Tea, Spices and Seafood.
• Hotel/Spa and Resort Services/Wellness Tourism.
• Boat (Manufacturers of fiber glass fishing vessels, trailer cover, trawlers, life boats, surveillance vessels, fast motor boats, passenger crafts, catamarans, pleasure boats, yachts and floating restaurants, snow sleds, repairs to boats).

This event is free of charge and open to all sectors. Interested companies are kindly requested to duly complete the online registration form before Friday, 11^th of May at the latest.

For further information about this upcoming event, feel free to contact the International Affairs team (Contact persons: Ms Sabrina Aksil/Na Shi ; T: (+352) 42 39 39-364/374/310 ; email: asia@cc.lu).