SL more interesting than India for German investors
Sri Lanka, economy-wise, is looking much better than India (at the moment) and it’s far more ‘fun’ to do business here than in India, a visiting German trade official said.
Peter Deubet, Indo (Indian)-German Chamber of Commerce Deputy Director General, also said that Sri Lanka is becoming an interesting place for German investments given the economic development, growth rates, improving infrastructure and a stable environmet.
He made this comment to the Business Times on the sidelines of the Sri Lanka-Germany Business Council meeting held at the Hilton in Colombo last Tuesday.
In addition, he noted that exports to Germany from Sri Lanka exceed that of imports (in value terms) which provides a gateway for Germany to increase its interest and imports and create a healthy trade balance between the two countries.
Some of the German companies have been in India for more than 100 years.
Overall there are more German investment in India compared to Sri Lanka which is not surprising considering India has 1.2 billion people.
The Sri Lanka-Germany Business Council assists in the visa process for business visitors. The council issues special business visas and recommendation letters since the council has a good relationship with the German embassy in Sri Lanka.
Mr. Deubet, with his own experience, emphasized, “From a tourist perspective Sri Lanka has far more to offer the Germans especially because the Germans always love the sun. Germany too has a lot of offer when it comes to sightseeing, landscape, environment, cities, museums, etc. Since the Germans are more interested in the beach and the sun, there would be more Germans visiting Sri Lanka than Sri Lankans visiting Germany.”
He also stressed that the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce has seen the potential for tourism in the country and has also noticed that Sri Lanka is “good news’ since the past few years and therefore worthwhile exploring.
Speaking at the event, he said, “The developments in the country need to continue with economic growth.” Sri Lanka is comparatively doing better than India though both countries need skilled labour with more private sector involvement, he added.