Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha met with Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe on Friday (27) and held discussions on further expanding bilateral trade activities.
Besides, discussions were held on further expanding the existing bilateral trade transactions between the two countries, promoting investment relations, identifying and encouraging new investment opportunities, working together to ensure food security in both countries, and strengthening mutual cooperation for the development of the cooperative sector.
The Indian High Commissioner said that he hopes to introduce Sri Lankan products to the Indian market by increasing market opportunities. He further added that he will focus on sectors such as tea and garments, and that his aim is to guide exporters to take advantage of those opportunities as there is a huge demand for high-quality Sri Lankan garments in India. The Indian representatives pointed out that attention has been paid to establishing a cooperation agreement between the Cooperative Wholesale Trading Corporation of Sri Lanka and the NCL of India, which can be described as a broader cooperation than a direct supply agreement.
The situation of the rice market and price control in Sri Lanka were also discussed at length. The Minister pointed out that although the price of rice has been controlled, it can be observed that there is a shortage of certain varieties of rice such as Samba in the market. As a remedy to this situation, if the Sri Lankan government can manage about 300,000 metric tons of rice, it can definitely control the price, he pointed out.
Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha pointed out that paddy purchases are being made at a minimum guaranteed price set by the Indian government to secure the income of farmers in India, and stated that the government has prevented unlimited hoarding by using the powers of the Essential Commodities Act. The High Commissioner also briefed the Trade Minister Samarasinghe on the huge storage system operated by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in India.
“The government purchases paddy at a guaranteed price and stores it in this storage system. If the private sector increases the price, the government releases its stocks to the market and stabilizes the price. This allows the government to manage surplus stocks (Buffer Stock Management),” The Trade Minister asked the High Commissioner whether the necessary technical support could be obtained to establish such a system in Sri Lanka. Responding to this, the Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha said that technical knowledge and training on how this system works in India can be provided. Accordingly, both sides agreed to hold a detailed discussion on this next month.
The meeting was attended by a group including the Development Cooperation Advisor of the Indian High Commission, Maitrey Kulkarni, while the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Secretary K. A. Wimalenthirarajah, Dr. Shantha Jayaratne, and the Chairman of the Cooperative Wholesale Trading Corporation, Kosala Wilbawa, represented the Ministry of Trade.
Source : Daily News
