Monday, October 05, 2009

Sri Lanka draws American big business after war



An American business delegation with executives from top multinationals, including Fortune 500 firms, will visit Sri Lanka this month looking for investments with the end of the ethnic war.

"This is perhaps the first large US Government business initiative since the end of the internal conflict in Sri Lanka," the American Chambers of Commerce (AmCham) in Colombo said in a statement.

"As the economic and political environment becomes more conducive for foreign investment and growth, American companies have shown renewed interest in examining the emerging investment and business opportunities in Sri Lanka."

Many of the American firms joining the delegation are Fortune 500 companies such as Coca-Cola, Caterpillar, GE, DuPont, 3M, UPS and Kimberly-Clark.

Other companies include Parsons Brinckerhoff, Sikorsky Aircrafts Corporation, Fiserv, Rockwell Automation, Western Union and Rashed Kanchan Corporation.

They represent diverse business interests which include fast moving consumer goods, infrastructure, food and beverages, healthcare, plastics such as engineering polymers, the defence sector, home care products, and military and commercial helicopters.

The visit of the business delegation, who are members of the Asia-Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce (APCAC) is supported by the US and Sri Lankan governments.

During their October 12-14 visit the delegation will call on Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake and senior ministers.

"The discussion will centre around investment and business opportunities in Sri Lanka in the new business environment in the post-conflict Sri Lanka," the AmCham statement said.

"Some of the sectors, which will receive special attention during our dialogue, are infrastructure, healthcare, information technology, agriculture and food processing and financial services."

Sri Lanka's 30-year war ended in May when government forces defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels, raising hopes of an economic revival.

The delegation's visit coincides with the US-Sri Lanka Public-Private Partnership Conference in Colombo on October 13, 2009.

A 16-member APCAC-AMCHAM delegation is led by Atul Singh, Vice Chairman, South Asia of the Asia-Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce and chief executive of Coca-Cola India.

Members of the delegation will discuss several business openings, investment opportunities and economic cooperation projects which Sri Lanka has to offer, the AmCham statement said.

"The visit of this delegation will foster strong regional integration in South Asia and create synergies for greater regional cooperation."

The Asia-Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce consists of 27 member AmChams in 21 economies.

APCAC represents the growing interests of over 10,000 business entities and over 50,000 business executives in the region.

The APCAC membership manages trade volumes in excess of 400 billion US dollars and direct investments of over 300 billion dollars, the AmCham statement said.

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