Commonwealth is Shared Prosperity

British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka James Dauris recently stated that the Commonwealth was diverse and more so when it came to sharing its collective prosperity.

“I am pleased with Sri Lanka’s level of participation at London’s Commonwealth Business Forum. The Commonwealth celebrates its diversity and shares its collective prosperity with its members,” said Dauris while speaking in Colombo on 25 April.

High Commissioner Dauris was speaking with Sri Lanka Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen. Minister Bathiudeen was informing him about Sri Lanka’s success in London.

After the US, the UK is the second largest destination for Sri Lankan exports, annually taking in 10% (around $ 1 billion) of Lankan exports. Apparel makes up 75% of exports to the UK.

“Over 200 Commonwealth entrepreneurs were at the Sri Lanka breakfast networking session of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Economic Council held on the sidelines of CHOGM18. B2B meetings that followed the breakfast meeting provided the opportunity for members of the delegations to develop further specific opportunities. Representatives from the Sri Lankan ICT industry launched the new branding campaign ‘Island of Ingenuity’ which appeared to be received well,” said Minister Bathiudeen.

The breakfast session was jointly facilitated by the Department of Commerce, EDB and London’s Sri Lankan High Commission.

According to the Department of Commerce: “The business meeting opened a new window to explore the partnership between Sri Lankan enterprises and the Commonwealth business delegations from other countries to promote intra-Commonwealth trade and investment.”

Sri Lanka is considered one of the major “emergent FDI attracting Commonwealth Destinations” along with Bangladesh and Singapore. Around 27% of Sri Lanka’s annual global trade in “goods” is being done with the Commonwealth while 40% of Sri Lanka’s global trade in “services” is done with the Commonwealth. Sri Lanka’s country share of Intra-Commonwealth imports is around 3%.  The Commonwealth plays a silent but significant role in Sri Lanka’s new trade reforms. In 2016, the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Head and Adviser of Trade Competitiveness, Dr. Rashmi Banga, stressed in Colombo that the Secretariat was “providing technical assistance to the Department of Commerce in Sri Lanka in the department’s (work on) Free Trade Agreement negotiations.”

The Secretariat has already analysed and identified 40 new products and 15 new markets for Lankan exports that could add $ 2 billion more to present Lankan export revenues.

Courtesy – Daily FT