The Belgian business delegation which included over 50 representatives from 40 companies who visited Sri Lanka for 'Belgian Week 2010' to explore economic and investment possibilities, have expressed optimism on the country's business climate and the prospect of their doing business in Sri Lanka.

The business representatives were from a range of sectors including agro-food, machinery, construction, interior, energy, fisheries, gems, information technology, infrastructure, water supply, financial services, textile, tobacco, tourism investments and various trading companies.

Most of the companies were exploring opportunities in Sri Lanka for the first time.

“The feeling I have was totally relaxed than last year. When I was here in December there were lots of army men with guns and I saw streets unclean. Touring around, I went to the South this afternoon and it is really good and clean. This time I do not see army people so it is like holiday atmosphere and that is perfect”, said Mr. Boris Pintelon/Aelbrecht-Maes Ltd. (Manufacturer of steel constructions) in a post-visit comment.

Mr. Paul Callebaut/BESIX Sanotec (Infrastructure) also said “Thanks to a set of high level meetings with the Ministers of Economic Development, External Relations, Water Supply and Drainage, and Finance, our companies were able to better understand the current political and economic outlook of the country for the years to come. The current political stability and the economic boom are two positive elements we are taking into account to further strengthen our presence in the country.”

“It was very important for me to make up my mind concerning Sri Lanka. Due to all information I was able to capture - what the government is planning for the future of Sri Lanka and how they will manage that - I decided to invest much more to expand our boutique hotel”, Mr. Wim Ceriez/‘The Old Lady at the Sea’ (Hotelier) adds.

“The IT development of Sri Lanka is second to nobody. We came here because of the quality, not because of the price. But the price is also very competitive so no complaints at all and really very very happy about this trip. It was perfectly organized, and it was a dream”, Mr. Ronald Reich/Redcorp (IT, content management and solutions) said.

“I was really happy this time that I could meet so many high ranked official people, which is not obvious if you do not know anybody, that is something you cannot establish yourself. This is why I love this mission and it was really something new to us but something I would recommend to anyone who want to get some feet in a new country. Yes, we have some really good prospects and I hope to be back, may be in three weeks to finalize it”, Ms. Carine Derez/Alliance International bvba (Manufacturer of industrial washing machines) said.

Mr. Marc Huberty/Balteau (Manufacturer of water supply & water pumps) added that “I had the opportunity to come to Sri Lanka in 2008 and I was really surprised on the good way Sri Lanka has moved forward. Of course now I feel that the war is over and there is a prosperous climate to do business and I met so many people who love this country. We are working in diverse sectors and have huge opportunities, and a lot of people like to cooperate with our company”.

“I have been in Sri Lanka already many times on holiday. ... I have friends and they told me that I should invest in this country for production here and exports for this part of the world, and this is my first business trip to Sri Lanka to see what we could do in this part of the world. ….. Our real intention is to come and invest and sell in Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand and to expand our sales in this part of the world from Sri Lanka”, Mr. Jef Maes/Maes Mattress Ticking nv (Manufacturer of mattress ticking) said.

“The business climate is very good to start something here. This is the 4th visit I have here in Sri Lanka, and I am now at a point to invest in an existing factory where the commercial department was not so good so the factory was not 100% producing. I have the market in Europe for coco products and coco husk products. I have immediately the market after investment in the factory and to give some advantage to the people who are working there, they can full time work in there. I also have good contact with people in plantation to start only in the cycle that means that I will take the coconuts from plantations, both the nut and the husk and then I can something with the coco 'nut' more specially to the oil, and bring the oil to a higher level because the oil has a good quality because the 40 years or more there was a competition between palm oil and coconut oil and olive oil. So I will bring back coconut oil especially from Sri Lanka because my heart is already here, I will bring up that level of coconut oil upto the level it must be," said Mr. Marc van Dael, Manager/Director, Copertiz bvba (Importer of coco products).

“I had a lot of contacts with tea exporters. We start up with a new brand T + H : organic green tea + organic functional herbs. This functional be has a nice taste/flavour and is really functional. In our contacts we had some contacts with providers of organic herbs. This can be interesting”, stated Mrs. Akkou Zhumatayeva/Cezhum bvba (Importer of Ceylon tea).

Mr. Alain Renard/SGG Corporate Services (Corporate financial services), Mr. Teunissen Reinier/Aquamaster Europe (Manufacturer of water pumps), Mr. Joris Smets/Vanbreda International (Health insurance), Mr. Stefan van de Kelder/Transurb Technirail (Solutions in railway and urban transport) and Mr. Emmanuel Blomme/Cortes (Manufacturer of cigars), were also made positive observations regarding 'Belgian Week 2010'