October 4, 2011, 9:51 pm
By Ifham Nizam
Sri Lanka has been included into a tight schedule of a Czech Republic delegation headed by its Trade and Industry Minister Martin Kocourek.
European Chamber of Commerce told The Island yesterday that it was heartening and most encouraging that in the busy schedule of the delegation, Sri Lanka has been included on October 13, 2011.
On the official invitation of Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, External Affairs Minister Prof. G L Peiris visited the Czech Republic earlier this year.
During the visit, the official signing of the Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investment between Sri Lanka and the Czech Republic took place.
Kocourek will lead a delegation of Czech business leaders, parliamentarians and 20 top Corporations from the infrastructure, energy, environment, heavy machinery sectors.
A high profile meeting will be held on October 13, followed by one to one meetings between prospective Sri Lanka partner organisations and the Czech Business delegation.
The visit to Sri Lanka is one amongst three official visits of the Czech delegation. The delegation is scheduled to stop over in Sri Lanka en route from India to Vietnam.
The Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade has launched a national campaign to support the participation of Czech companies in international events. For the year 2012 alone, the projected value of the support is budgeted at CZK 210 million.
This would give opportunity to over 400 Czech companies to be internationalised. The increase in the local budget for international participation is maximised with the combination of European and national sources of funding.
European Chamber of Commerce says if any Sri Lankan organisation looking at increasing their portfolio or even reaching out in to the international arena; this would be an opportunity.
A spokesman of the Chamber added: "Let’s learn a little more about what The Czech republic has to offer Sri Lanka and fortify our relations with another supportive trading partner."
For further information on the upcoming Czech business delegations visit and the B2B (business to business) meetings, contact Roshni Wijayasinghe, Liaisons Officer on 2375486-7 or 2375489.
Source: Island, October 05, 2011
