With the dawn of peace, many opportunities emerged for international business in Sri Lanka, says Sri Lanka’a Ambassador to the US, Jaliya Wickramasuriya in an interview with Ceylon Today.

“US investors whom I have met after their visits to Sri Lanka are very positive. Their understanding is very much in line with international indicators which I highlighted previously. However, I must concede that there are a few areas in which that we should make some improvements,” the Ambassador said.

The Embassy harnessed this conducive climate to showcase real business opportunities in Sri Lanka amongst US corporate leaders and captains of Industry, he further said.

There may be different perceptions on the business environment of Sri Lanka. What is important are the independent international indexes which speak on Sri Lanka’s continuous improvements on the business environment and its competitiveness, he further explains.

With regard to trade, Sri Lanka always enjoys a favorable balance of trade with the US. In 2011 the balance of trade between the US and Sri Lanka was US $ 1.8 billion while exports and imports from US amounted to US $ 2.14 billion and 0.3 billion respectively. In 2012, US can be considered the only major export market that performed outstandingly with US $ 1.8 billion from January to October 2012.

The USA is among first 10 sources of origin of tourists to Sri Lanka. Compared to 2011, the arrival of US tourists to Sri Lanka, 2012 is indeed very impressive. Up to November 2012, US tourist arrivals numbered 26.251. This shows a 25% increase compared to the same period in 2011.

For full text of the interview please visit:

http://www.ceylontoday.lk/22-21862-news-detail-us-sri-lanka-bilateral-relations-improving.html