Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution Meets UK Minister for International Trade, and Sri Lanka’s IT Sector Participates in ICT Roundtable in Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

The Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution of Sri Lanka Dr. Harsha de Silva met with the Minister of State for International Trade of the Department for International Trade of the United Kingdom, Conor Burns, MP, on the sidelines of the Sri Lanka Investment Forum 2019 held on 09 October 2019 in London.  The meeting focussed on the promotion of UK – Sri Lanka bilateral trade, including means of maintaining current market access levels and preferences for Sri Lanka’s exports to the UK following post-Brexit arrangements, given the importance of the UK market for Sri Lanka.

During the visit, Minister de Silva also met with the former Secretary of State for International Development and longstanding friend of Sri Lanka The Rt. Hon. Dr. Liam Fox on 08 October 2019, and discussed issues of mutual interest.  The High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom Manisha Gunasekera; Director General, Department of Commerce Nimal Karunathilake; and Minister Commerce of the High Commission Dr. Lakmini Mendis; were associated with Minster de Silva at the meetings.

The Sri Lanka delegation to the Investment Forum also participated in an ICT Roundtable organised at the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce on 10 October 2019 with the support of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, to increase awareness among businesses based in Manchester and explore opportunities available for potential partnerships in the ICT/BPM sector in Sri Lanka.

At the Roundtable, Dr. Rupak Kharel, Reader in Computing, Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University presented the audience with the overview of the IT sector in Manchester.  Around 12 companies in the UK representing different sectors participated at the event. Sri Lankan IT companies got an opportunity to present their company profiles to the audience as well as to hold B2B meetings with the participant companies from the British side.

The Sri Lankan delegation to the ICT Roundtable in Manchester was represented by Chairman of Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka Mangala Yapa, Director (Promotions) of BOI Sri Lanka Nilupul De Silva, Second Secretary (Commercial) of Sri Lanka High Commission Senuja Samaraweera, Past Chairman of the Sri Lanka Association of Software & Services Companies (SLASSCOM) Ruwindhu Peiris and representatives from M/s.GUI Solutions, M/s. FR Softtnet, M/s. Pyxle and M/s. Synapsis representing the ICT trade in Sri Lanka.

The UK is Sri Lanka’s second single largest export destination, and the largest within the EU, absorbing nearly 10 percent of our total exports to the world.  The UK is also among the top 05 investors in Sri Lanka.

High Commission of Sri Lanka

London

21 October 2019