Lankans eye more imports from Bangladesh

Dhaka--Sri Lanka is looking to buy woven and knitwear items, raw rubber and plastic and jute goods from Bangladesh and joint ventures, a business delegation said on Sunday.

The delegation of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) met with the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) leaders to explore more scopes of bilateral trade, which is currently at a very low level.

M Tofail Salie, the delegation chief, said, "We want to develop the trade relations."

In 2008-09 fiscal ytear, Bangladesh's imports from Sri Lanka were worth only $18.57 million as against exports of only $18.67 million.

He said, "Sri Lanka is the ultimate destination for tourism and some other special products Ceylon tea, cloves, coconut, copra and significantly, tourism.

DCCI president Abul Kasem Khan said, "Bilateral trade between the countries is far from satisfactory."

While talking to bdnews24.com, Khan said, "There's a huge opportunity of taking IT-related assistance from Sri Lanka as the Lankans have developed in this sector.

"We should also take the advantage of investing there as the labour cost is low while it has productive and literate manpower.

"We've requested the industries minister make arrangements for investment in Sri Lanka," he added.

The DCCI president also asked the delegation for investment more in and import from Bangladesh.

Deputy head of mission of Sri Lankan embassy HMTD Herath told the meeting his country had taken necessary measures to resume flights between the countries.

"The flights were put to halt following a suicide bombing attack by the Tamil Tigers at Bandaranaike International airport in July 2001," Herath later told bdnews24.com.

"The country has overcome the restoration period after 20 years of civil war and lots of business opportunities are prevailing there, especially in the tourism sector," he added.

Mihin Lanka, a public-private partnership initiative arliner, will fly to Dhaka four to five times a week, according to Herath.