Indonesia has requested Sri Lanka to ease the import ban to ensure the sustainability of business activities between the two countries.
The request was made during a discussion between the Indonesian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Dewi Gustina Tobing and Minister of Industries Wimal Weerawansa.
“The complementary relations between the two countries with the abundance of natural resources and intermediate products of Indonesia, combined with the growing industries of Sri Lanka, will make the partnership mutually beneficial for both sectors.
Furthermore, Indonesia’s consumer products with good quality become another valuable alternative for Sri Lanka,” the Indonesian Embassy to Sri Lanka said today.
The Embassy said that during the discussion between Ambassador Dewi and Minister Weerawansa, both sides agreed on the importance of facilitating the business communities.
“They will ensure a more robust collaboration in industrial sectors between the two countries,” Heru Prayitno, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Colombo said.
Minister Weerawansa also supported a statement made by Ambassador Dewi on the importance of commencing negotiations on the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Indonesia and Sri Lanka shortly.
This was earlier discussed between Ambassador Dewi and the Minister of Trade Bandula Gunawardhana.
“Through this PTA, Indonesia could support the industry of Sri Lanka to produce efficiently to increase the competitiveness of Sri Lanka in supplying local market as well as for export purposes. Thus, consumer products from Indonesia will also provide better option for the community,” said Ambassador Dewi.
Ambassador Dewi also updated Minister Weerawansa on the ongoing discussions between companies from both sides on aluminum products for Indonesian companies to supply to Sri Lanka.
They also discussed the Copra project to provide Sri Lankan industries an amount of 39,000 m3 ton copra from Indonesia. “These are the examples of beneficial collaboration between the two business communities. More collaboration is now being explored,” said Ambassador Dewi.
During the meeting, Minister Weerawansa also invited the Minister of Industry of Indonesia to visit Sri Lanka
