Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona, attended the 5th Global Cross-boarder E-commerce conference in Zhengzhou, Henan province on 10 May 2021. The Conference was hosted by Deputy Governor of Henan Province Jinping He. Dr. Kohona was invited by Deputy Governor Jinping He as a special guest.
The Ambassador discussed the proposed Sri Lanka pavilion at the Bairong Market, Zhengzhou, with the Deputy Governor on the sidelines of the conference. In order to gain maximum benefits through the Cross-boarder E-commerce platform that was being created, Dr. Kohona, encouraged the Henan Government to allocate premium space at the Bairong Market to Sri Lanka. Dr. Kohona opined that the e-commerce platform might not only help introduce a range of Sri Lankan products to China, but also become a mechanism to encourage more investments to Sri Lanka from the Henan Province.
Ambassador Dr. Kohona expressed his confidence that with the strong backing of e-commerce, cultural exchanges could also be promoted through online channels. He said that establishing the Shaolin Cultural Center in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan temple in the White Horse temple, Henan, (already approved by the cabinet of Sri Lanka) will help to attract more Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka. By using e-commerce, tour operators could undertake online promotions.
The Deputy Governor welcomed the Ambassador’s views and encouraged Sri Lanka to consider opening a commercial representative office for closer cooperation.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Beijing
18 May 2021
