Six BOI establishments set up under matchmaking program:

CCC, Norway program to help Sri Lankan industrialists

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

Sri Lankan industrialists could benefit under industrial co-operation, a matchmaking program facilitated by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce between Sri Lanka and Norway. Six BOI establishments have been set up through the matchmaking program, Chief Executive Officer/Director, Euronor Hemantha Wickramasinghe told Daily News Business.

Euronor, a 100 percent Norwegian company was set up with an investment of US $ 700,000 in September 2008 to manufacture kindergarten furniture, wooden toys and sports equipment.

The company has exported goods to the value of US $ 200,000 and plans to penetrate the global market, he said.

Euronor has a potential market for its products with the green concept that is popular in European countries. We need to capitalize on this and increase production and the market share, he said.

“We appreciate the services rendered by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) to set up joint ventures with Norway.

The Norwegian Government considers matchmaking as a role model to boost investment. It is important to build investor confidence to attract more investments to the country”, he said.

Euronor has provided employment to 40 people - 70 percent females and 30 percent males. It also engages in Corporate Social Responsibility projects to assist temples and kindergartens. Around 20-30 clients from Norway visit Sri Lanka annually to identify the target sectors and set up joint ventures.

The matchmaking program conducted by the CCC for industrial co-operation and trading has recorded 88 success stories under technical and trading collaborations.

CCC is the national contact point for the program. It is funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation (NORAD) and functions under the Ministry of Industrial Development with an Advisory Committee of representatives from the Board of Investment, Sri Lanka Export Development Board, CCC and Sri Lanka Nordic Business Council, said Project Manager CCC Anuradha Perera.

The objective of the program is to transfer Norwegian competence to Sri Lanka through a matchmaking process.

The program envisages joint ventures/partnerships with third country partners, provided the production is based in Sri Lanka and could take the form of licence agreements, joint ventures, industrial co-operations, technical co-operation arrangements and in special circumstances, trading arrangements for companies having a manufacturing base.

The program is open to all registered business enterprises in Sri Lanka, he said.