Lack of focus by SL businesses in investing in China
China has huge investments in Sri Lanka in infrastructure development while tourist arrivals are also rising.However there is limited interest by Sri Lankan businesses to venture there.
Navindra Abeysekara, President of the Sri Lanka China Business Council made this comment to the Business Times on the sidelines of the Annual General Meeting of the council held at the Taj Samudra in Colombo last week.
Explaining, he said, “Sri Lankan businesses have been more or less into commodity export. The local companies need to go to China, not just only for exhibitions but stay and look at the various Chinese consumers. Sri Lanka has to scientifically see the opportunities that are available in those areas, identify those areas, target them and get involved in business. Any businessman should know to think beyond the box and has to be strategic, proactive and look at China’s main import areas.”
It is time that Sri Lanka looks at China which has 1.4 billion people and on the other side India where the population is 1.2 billion. The proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Sri Lanka and China is underway while Sri Lanka already has an FTA with India. Sri Lanka will be the only country in the world to have two FTA’s with the two largest populations in the world. This could be the turning point for Sri Lanka, he noted.
Speaking at the AGM Mr. Abeysekara emphasized that the FTA between Sri Lanka and China will not restrict itself to trade alone, but instead will be what is called a ‘Marine time Silk Route Framework Agreement’. In addition to the areas of free trade, it will also cover Finance, Investment, Shipping and Aviation, Ports, Airports, Culture and Science and Technology.
Imports to China in 2013 were US$ 1949 billion which was an increase of 7 per cent compared to 2012. From China’s total imports close to 42 per cent is from developed Asian countries like South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.
China also imports plastic, rubber, jewellery, pharmaceuticals, glassware, dairy products, soap and washing preparation products, prepared cereals, flour, value added starch products, tea, spices, coffee, live trees, plants and cut flowers and many more worth billions of dollars. These are some of the markets that Sri Lanka could look at the export opportunities while making use of the benefits and tax concessions given by the Sri Lankan government.