Apr 26, 2016 (LBO) РSwedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstr̦m met Sri Lankan government and business representatives together with representatives of several top Swedish companies at a discussion on cooperation for sustainable urban development on Monday.
Swedish companies such as ABB, Axis Communications, Ericsson, Icomera, Saab, Scania and Volvo were represented, while officials of several Sri Lankan companies and trade chambers were present.
Sri Lanka has urban areas growing faster than other countries in the region and there were opportunities for investment in urban infrastructure and urban services with a focus on sustainable technologies, officials pointed out.
“Companies represented today are all global providers of state of the art technologies in their respective fields,” Anna Liberg, trade commissioner for South Asia, Business Sweden, said.
“Areas of particular interest are engineering and services for infrastructure which accounts for significant share of Sweden Sri Lanka trade,” she said.
Sri Lanka wanted cooperation in areas such as water supply, desalination, swerage, water metering and in transportaton such as rapid bus transit, electrification of railway and monorail, officials said.
Lakshaman Jayasekara, project director for Western Region Megapolis Planning Project, pointed out that there were several opportunities in the transportation sector and the six-million strong Western region needed sustainable technologies to drive growth.
“We have believed in Sri Lanka even in troubled times, and I still believe,” Leif Ohlson, the secretary general of the Sweden-Sri Lanka Business Council, said speaking to the audience.
He said Sri Lanka has a good road network, and offers excellent flight connections for international investors.
Sri Lanka has several high quality products that are yet to enter the Swedish market, and Stockholm is yet to have a Sri Lankan restaurant, Ohlson added.
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