The visiting DCCI business delegation led by its president Taskeen Ahmed, paid a courtesy calls on Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Employment, Arun Hemachandra, and Deputy Minister for Finance and Planning, Dr. Harshana Suriyaperuma, at their respective ministries in Colombo on Thursday.
The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) delegation is on a business exploratory trip to Sri Lanka to seek new opportunity for trade and investment
During the meeting, Arun Hemachandra, Deputy Foreign Minister expressed his optimism that strengthening relations between the private sectors of both nations would enhance bilateral trade and investment.
Regarding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Bangladesh, the DCCI president said Sri Lanka has already signed FTAs with Thailand and Singapore and is currently analyzing the potential benefits and risks of an FTA with Bangladesh.
He invited Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to invest in Sri Lanka's promising sectors and assured full support from the Sri Lankan side.
DCCI President Taskeen Ahmed said due to ongoing geopolitical shifts, global trade dynamics are changing and new opportunities are opening up across South and Southeast Asia.
He noted while Bangladesh is the world's second-largest exporter of ready-made garments, Sri Lanka is significantly ahead in areas such as technology, value addition of goods, and innovation.
He highlighted that there is ample potential for bilateral trade and joint initiatives between the private sectors of both countries which can expand bilateral trade and investment. He also emphasized that signing a FTA would further strengthen trade ties and people-to-people connectivity between both countries.
He said Bangladeshi firms are keen on joint collaboration with Sri Lankan business partners and hoped that Sri Lankan entrepreneurs would also consider investing in potential sectors of Bangladesh.
Rizwan Rahman, former DCCI President said the economies of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are quite similar in structure. Therefore, a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) may not be as effective, and a full-fledged Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would better accelerate bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.
In a separate meeting Dr. Harshana Suriyaperuma, Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister for Finance and Planning said both countries have ample opportunities for joint collaboration, particularly in information technology and digital services, pharmaceuticals, tea, energy, financial services, and tourism sector.
He mentioned that Sri Lanka has already formulated an ambitious digital roadmap aimed at transforming the country into a fully digital state within the next two years, with all services automated.
He added that the government is encouraging foreign investment in establishing state-of-the-art data centers, an area where Bangladeshi investors could be part of it. He also invited Bangladeshi investors to explore opportunities in Sri Lanka's pharmaceutical sector to help meet the local demand.
DCCI's Senior Vice President Razeev H Chowdhury and Vice President Md. Salem Sulaiman were also present during the meetings.
