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Big biz names but little progress
Much Ado about Nothing ' may be an unkind reference to the high falutin World Economic Summit - the Indian Davos - held in New Delhi earlier this week, but that was probably what it was anyway.

Sri Lanka's top-notch biz magnates were there to sign the book, and the Chairman of BOI and the Tourist Board made presentations in a small room at the Taj Palace Hotel.

Much was made of the fact that 700 captains of industry were at hand at the event opened by India's Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, and a day was dedicated to Sri Lanka. But not all 700 attended the Sri Lankan presentation, no , not even 50 did.

The day was one hectic rush, and Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, who was invited by the organisers of the Forum to speak on the vision for South Asia and was also invited by the Chamber of Commerce to represent Sri Lanka at the WEC was given three ten minute speeches in the course of the day to articulate the country's investment potential, and explain the government's economic direction.

He tried to make the most of the ten minutes each time talking of SAARC, the irreversible trend towards free market policies and foreign investment notwithstanding the Marxist JVP - and in his final speech, which was at the cocktail reception hosted by the BOI at which SriLankan Airlines made a presentation ala Channa's dance troupe, the Minister had to crack some jokes about politicians just to keep the whisky guzzling guys and wine drinking ladies to stop their chattering.

One gem of a joke was how a politician complained that half his reputation was ruined by false reports about him in the press, and the other half was ruined by truths.

A Chairman of a Sri Lankan company with business interests in India Mano Selvanathan felt it was a useful exercise, nevertheless, and pointed out, and rightly so, that it was an opportunity to ' network '. Chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce Tilak de Zoysa who was the team leader of the Sri Lankan delegation, so to say, also felt it an achievement for Sri Lanka to get such visibility, especially considering the fact that India was fast emerging as a powerful economic entity.

India was also a vast market for Sri Lankan products, and FTAs ( Free Trade Agreements ) is now the buzz of the biz community in the South Asian region. But the Summit was not without its moments of conflict. A moot point was raised in the process. Who eventually is in charge of foreign direct investment ( FDI) into a country, especially in the South Asian nations.

The very fact that the three key-note speakers from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka ( Pakistan was absent ) represented three different portfolios probably said it all. While Sri Lanka had her Foreign Minister, India was represented by her Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and Bangladesh by her Finance and Planning Minister Saifur Rahman.

The trouble started at the lunch table when the young and talkative Indian Commerce Minister had a swipe at the Foreign Ministries for being utterly useless when it came to promoting FDIs. He begged pardon from the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister for saying so, but went on nevertheless on that vein. He was quite critical of the External Affairs Ministry of India.

The Bangladesh Minister endorsed the statement taking an equal swipe at his country's Foreign Ministry as well. Then, the Indian Commerce Minister side-tracked to attack the FTA with Sri Lanka saying that several Sri Lankan companies were doing a kind of underhand trade by exploiting the FTA to import from a third country and merely re-export the items to India under the cover of the FTA.

This drew a response from Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in New Delhi Mangala Moonesinghe, who was also at the table when he asked the Indian Commerce Minister as to who was doing this. Somebody at the table asked, " Mr. Minister could it be Indian companies based in Sri Lanka who were doing this ? " The Indian Minister chose not to reply.

With the lunch rushed through, the three Ministers were then rushed to the podium where they were subjected to questions from the 'floor'. At which point Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister referred to the Indian Commerce Minister's remarks saying that a Foreign Ministry of a country was only there to open the doors for foreign investors, and that the Commerce Minister must know that business is only one aspect of South Asian co-operation. A gentle reminder not to get carried away too much with the business of business.

He said FTAs were just the stepping-stone to a wider Charter on South Asian co-operation. And suddenly, it was the three Ministers discussing who was in charge of FDIs in the region. The two non-Foreign Ministers ganging up on the sole Foreign Minister, though they made it clear they were referring to their own experience.

The spat between the three ministers gave time only for three questions to asked from the floor of the house before the delegates were all rushed for separate meetings in the different conference rooms in the hotel.

The one question relevant to Sri Lanka, was whether it was not appropriate for the Indian Central government to put a stop to the state government in southern India imposing separate state taxes and levies and goods imported from Sri Lanka under FTA and thereby including such joint agreements. The Indian Commerce Minister had not much to say 'We are discussing that' was the unhelpful answer he could give.

And, what happened to Sri Lanka's Minister in charge of Investment. He could not get a room in New Delhi because by the time he decided to go, all the rooms had been already booked.

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