AN ONLINE SEMINAR ORGANIZED TO INFORM ATO MEMBERS ON TRADE, INVESTMENT AND COOPERATION OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SRI LANKA MARKET.

A "GOODWILL AGREEMENT" WAS SIGNED BETWEEN ATO AND SEYLAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY.

ATO PRESIDENT BARAN: "WE TAKE AN IMPORTANT STEP TO BRING CLOSE RELATIONS WITH SRI LANKA".

October 2, 2021- "Business Opportunities Information Seminar with Sri Lanka" was held online with the joint organization of Ankara Chamber of Commerce, Sri Lanka Ankara Embassy and Seylan Chamber of Commerce (CCC). Before the seminar, ATO Chairman of the Board Gürsel Baran and Seylan Chamber of Commerce President Vish Govindasamy signed a Goodwill Agreement for the development of commercial cooperation between the two countries. Sri Lanka Ankara Ambassador Muhammed Rizvi Hassen was also included in the program.

Speaking at the opening of the cooperation seminar, ATO President Baran said that Turkey and Sri Lanka are two countries that want to strengthen and further develop their political, commercial and economic relations on the basis of equality and mutual benefit from past to present. Baran said that President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan visited Sri Lanka during her prime ministry, and then Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa came to Turkey and that mutual visits were beneficial in terms of improving relations between the two countries.

Stating that the foreign trade between Turkey and Sri Lanka is approximately 100 million dollars, Baran said, "With the Goodwill Agreement we will sign today, we will have taken an important step in bringing these relations closer." Baran also gave detailed information about the economy of Ankara in his speech.

TARGET $500 MILLION TRADE

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Sri Lankan Ambassador Muhammed Rizvi Hasse stated that Sri Lanka and Turkey have good relations and said, "The trade volume between our countries does not reflect the historical depth between the two countries." Ambassador Hassen said that Sri Lankan Minister of Commerce expressed a target of 500 million dollars for foreign trade with Turkey. Noting that bilateral agreements will be signed between Turkey and Sri Lanka, the Ambassador said, "We hope that these agreements will be signed within two months. The pandemic has confronted us with unprecedented challenges. Disruptions in logistics activities further aggravated this situation. Cooperation between our countries will open a new window of opportunity in this process and will increase the trade volume between the two countries.

 Vish Govindasamy, President of the Seylan Chamber of Commerce, stated in his speech that they are determined to develop relations between the two countries in the field of trade, investment and tourism, and said, "The agreement that we will sign today will help to reveal the potential of our countries in the field of trade, investment and tourism."

Noting that after the goodwill agreement, they suggested holding B2B meetings between Seylan Chamber of Commerce and Ankara Chamber of Commerce members, Govindasamy invited an ATO delegation to Sri Lanka under the chairmanship of Baran.

After the speeches, Baran and Govindasamy signed the Goodwill Agreement, which includes articles to develop cooperation between the two Chambers. In the cooperation seminar, presentations were made on Medical Equipment and Devices, Agriculture, Food and Food Processing, Information and Communication sectors.