FINNISH DELEGATION SEES HIGH INVESTMENT POTENTIAL IN SRI LANKA
Chairman of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, Dr. Lakshman Jayaweera and Senior officials of the BOI briefed an official delegation from Finland headed by Matti Anttonen Under Secretary of State, External Economic Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and Rauli Suikkanen, Ambassador of Finland to Sri Lanka at the BOI recently.
The Finnish delegation expressed interest in Sri Lanka’s trade and investment policy and particularly on the Free Trade Agreements that Sri Lanka has entered into with both India and Pakistan. The BOI also briefed the Finnish delegation on the status of the discussions relating to the FTA that is currently being negotiated with China and other important issues relating to investments.
The BOI side also briefed the visitors on the current interest in Sri Lanka by two leading Japanese banks, namely Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and Mizho Bank with whom BOI has entered into Memorandums of Understanding. The banks promote Sri Lanka among their vast client database.
The Finnish delegation also informed the BOI that they would help find matching partners in Finland for Sri Lankan companies, indicating that there is considerable potential in the tourism sector.
Sri Lanka is also participating in Finland’s biggest tourism fair. Finland has a much diversified economy but most of production is now relocated overseas. However, Finland strength lies in its high quality design which enjoys worldwide reputation. Finland’s population and hence its workforce, is ageing, which means that Finnish companies now focus mainly on developing high technology thanks to their advances in the research and development sectors.
Though considered a small country in population terms, Finland can boast of having 15 – 20 world class companies which are internationally known. Engineering is one of the main strengths of Finland.