Meeting with the Newly appointed Ambassador-Designate to Thailand: 24th June 2024
The Executive Committee of the Sri Lanka – Greater Mekong Business Council met Ms. Wijayanthi Edirisinghe, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador-designate to Thailand, on 24th June 2024 at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce to discuss opportunities for trade and investment collaboration in several key industry sectors.
During the meeting Ms Wijayanthi highlighted the potential for cooperation across various sectors, with a special focus on the opportunities presented by the Sri Lanka Thailand Free Trade Agreement, including leveraging Thailand’s expertise in agriculture and fisheries to address challenges such as high lauric acid levels in coconuts.
Educational exchanges were also highlighted, focusing on student exchange programmes, joint degree programmes, and faculty exchanges in IT, tourism, and pharmaceuticals. Prospects for joint ventures in the gem and jewellery sector, as well as collaborations with Thai healthcare services for training programmes and technology exchange to elevate Sri Lankan healthcare standards were also discussed.
The meeting also touched on working with THAI Airways to promote trade exhibition packages and enhance corporate sector engagement, and also to promote religious and cultural tourism between the two countries. Ms. Wijayanthi added that her role in overseeing operations in Cambodia and Laos, collaborating with local companies and the Export Development Board would add further impetus to potential trade collaborations.
Mr. Suriyakumara, President of SLGMBC, suggested organising a trade delegation from Thailand to Sri Lanka to foster stronger economic ties through B2B meetings, tourism promotion, and new export opportunities.
The meeting concluded with plans to enhance product value, quality, and packaging for the Thai market, address regulatory challenges, and leverage technology exchange in agriculture, fisheries, and power sectors.