Financial Times

Playing Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark!
Powwow with Indian business sans Lankan corporate leaders
The absence of top private sector representatives in the delegation led by President Mahinda Rajapakse to India has perturbed many corporate leaders here.

There was no one from the corporate sector or Sri Lanka’s leading chambers when Rajapakse met and addressed India’s top businessmen in New Delhi on Thursday. “We were not even invited despite asking for participation from the private sector,” noted Nawaz Rajabdeen, President of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL). Some local chambers had also persuaded some of their counterparts in India to attend the meeting.

Rajabdeen said he was surprised that the government delegation of 60-plus members had many ministers, secretaries to ministries and other officials but no private sector input.

“What’s the use of talking business with businesspersons when there is no one representing the Sri Lankan private sector?” he asked, adding that ministers and secretaries to ministries cannot do business with India’s business giants.
The FCCISL President said he had written a letter to the government requesting private sector participation but there was no response or any acknowledgement of the letter.

Sources from other chambers said the practice followed in the past by former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was to take a private sector delegation along with them on overseas visits, particularly when key meetings with the business community there were scheduled. Such interaction had help to bring foreign investment into the country.

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