India has helped 'immensely' in rebuilding Sri Lanka's north

India has helped immensely in rebuilding the northern province, according to K. Poornachandran, Chairman, Jaffna Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He made these comments at the launch of the Jaffna International Trade Fair 2013 (JIFT) held in Colombo last week. JIFT 2013 would be held on January 18- 20 at the Duraiyappah Stadium, Jaffna. Responding to questions, a spokesperson from the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka said that the railway project undertaken by the Indian Government under the US $ 800 million Government of India Credit Line would be completed ahead of schedule by the end of 2013. It would then be extended from Talaimanar-Mannar to Rameshwaram. On the sidelines of the launch media briefing, Mr Poonachandran reiterated his assertion made during the launch of JITF 2012 last year that money was flowing to Jaffna through the relatives of the Jaffna residents abroad which numbers nearly two million.

He said that he could not yet quantify the amounts that flow to Jaffna, but said that there appears to be a steady flow. When asked whether peace is in place and whether Jaffna residents who are abroad are coming to Sri Lanka to join the economic activities of the area, he said that it is not yet visible.

Mr Poornachandran said that the British Parliamentary delegation who visited the northern province recently undertook to convince, Sri Lankan Tamils in that country to 'come home' as opportunities are ripe for commercial activity in this area.

He said that in Jaffna the number of residents are only 613,000, but the bulk of the Jaffna population numbering nearly two million have taken root mostly in western countries and are doing well. He said that there are major investments taking place in this area and the infrastructure in the area is shaping to facilitate trade, commerce and investment activities. JITF last year attracted a crowd of 60,000 and at JITF 2013 the organizers expect more considering the enthusiasm of the people towards commercial activity.

JITF is organized by Lanka Exhibition and Conference Services (Pvt) Ltd in collaboration with the Jaffna Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sri Lanka.