Sri Lanka seeks investment from Bangladesh

Sri Lanka is keen to attract investment from Bangladeshi entrepreneurs in the tourism and agriculture sectors, said the country's High Commissioner Sudharshan Seneviratne at a meeting on Sunday.
 
The high commissioner expressed this interest in a courtesy call on the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FBCCI) President Md Jashim Uddin. 
 
Addressing a meeting at the FBCCI office, the envoy said his country is offering lucrative incentives for foreign investors, including tax holidays. Bangladeshi entrepreneurs can benefit by investing in vast uncultivated land in Sri Lanka.
 
Seeking Bangladesh's cooperation in the development of tourism and shipping, ambassador Seneviratne said the Colombo port now has four harbours and is equipped with modern facilities. Therefore, he urged the Bangladeshi cargo ships to go through Colombo.
 
The FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said a free trade agreement between the two countries would make it easier to increase bilateral trade and investment.
 
Also urging to increase regional trade, the FBCCI chief said most of Bangladesh's trade is with the United States and the European Union. But it is more profitable to do business with neighbouring countries.
 
Referring to the huge volume of inter-trade in the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the president said that if the South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) was implemented, the development of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries would have been accelerated.
 
The FBCCI president also emphasized the importance of cooperation in the energy sector among the Saarc countries.
 
During the meeting, FBCCI Director Priti Chakraborty called for joint initiatives on nursing training between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
 
FBCCI Vice President Habib Ullah Dawn, Director Shomi Kaiser, Director Nadia Binte Amin and Secretary-General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque were also present at the meeting.