Diamonds, brought down from Israel to
Sri Lanka, are cut and polished here and shipped back to Israel. Annually, such
diamond exports exceed US $ 40 m mark and in 2012, Israel became the second
largest Lankan diamond buyer with a total of $ 54 Mn. According to the Export
Development Board, Sri Lanka’s overall exports to Israel increased by a strong
30% in 2012 to US $ 74.36 m. Diamonds were the leading export in 2012 with 73%
of total exports, followed by tea, frozen fish, rubber products, and textile
articles.
The
Lankan embassy in Tel Aviv has lined up nearly 50 business giants and
personalities to visit Sri Lanka for partnerships and joint ventures in dairy,
agriculture, high tech, water and tourism. Some of the visiting firms are
experts in advancing underdeveloped agricultural lands and other underdeveloped
industries and they already work with Companies in China and USA. As a result
of the Sri Lankan embassy’s in Tel Aviv
effort, a top Israeli Business and
High-Tech mission is arriving in Colombo next week.
“This
is the strongest such delegation to arrive in Sri Lanka in recent times. Among
the delegation are high-end Israeli companies in dairy, agriculture, high tech,
water and tourism and they are willing to share their knowledge and experience
gained in these sectors, with our industries" said Sarath Wijesinghe, Sri
Lanka’s Ambassador in Israel , speaking from Tel Aviv. The Ambassador shall be
leading the 30 strong Mission to Sri Lanka whose visit is now scheduled from
25-31 August. Among the firms included in this mission are Naan Dan Jain
(agro-irrigation), Earnix (Banks, Financial Institutions, Insurance), A & G
Partners (innovative consulting), Niru Group (diamonds), Magic (enterprise
software), Afimilk (dairy farming), and Agrotop (livestock). While in Colombo,
the delegation is scheduled to take part in a B2B Forum, and will undertake
several on-site visits.
