Colombo (The Island/ANN) - Sri Lanka will be holding two fresh bilateral trade sessions today in Hyderabad, one with India and the other with the United Arab Emirates. The talks will be held at Andra Pradesh' Hyderabad International Convention Centre, in Hyderabad. Minister Bathiudeen is currently in Hyderabad as a member of the Sri Lankan delegation for the "New Age Innovation Partnership" themed Partnership Summit 2012, held in Hyderabad, Andra Pradesh, India which ends on 13 January.
Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka will lead Sri Lanka team on both meetings. In these negotiations, Minister Bathiudeen will hold discussions with Anand Sharma, Indian Minister of Commerce & Industry (for India), followed by Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade (for UAE), in separate afternoon sessions on 12 January.
"The latest rounds of talks are aimed at trade promotion between Sri Lanka and these two countries," said P.D. Fernando, Director General of Commerce of Department of Commerce of Sri Lanka. Minister Bathiudeen is also expected to extend the official Sri Lankan invitation for 'Sri Lanka Expo 2012' to India, during the meeting with his Indian counterpart.
According to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the organisers of the Partnership Summit 2012, its sessions will focus on tourism and investment opportunities in the state of Andra Pradesh, along with high-level business networking among the participating countries. About 1500 delegates from 30 countries will take part in this three-day partnership summit at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre. Among the participating countries are Bangladesh, China, the Czech Republic, Ghana, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, USA, Zambia, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Turkey, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Mali. Minister Bathiudeen will also be addressing the Thursday 12 inaugural session of the Partnership Summit at 10.30am, Hyderabad local time.
The total India-Sri Lanka trade crossed the US$ 4 billion mark last year, from $ 656 million in 2000, thus recording a six fold increase. India, which ranked as the 16th largest buyer of Sri Lanka in the year 2000, emerged as the 3rd largest buyer of Sri Lankan products in 2003 and continues to do so. The trade balance is in favour of India.
Sri Lanka and UAE held a round of bilateral discussions on 23 November 2011 in Colombo amidst renewed trade ties between both countries. The 23 November talks were led by Minster Bathiudeen for Sri Lanka Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade for United Arab Emirates. During the bilateral talks, Sri Lanka also officially extended its invitation to UAE for the forthcoming Expo 2012 mega promotion show to be held in Colombo. UAE is the largest investor in Sri Lanka from the Gulf economies, having invested nearly $ 100 million and also UAE has been ranked as the third largest investor in Sri Lanka in 2010. Among the leading UAE investment groups in Sri Lanka are Al Futaim and Al Ghurair groups.
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