Sept 23, Colombo: In collaboration with the State Ministry of Warehouse Facilities, Container Yards, Port Supply Facilities, Boats, and Shipping Industry Development of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lanka High Commission in Pretoria organized an informative webinar on 13 September 2021 to identify the possible business opportunities for the SL boat industry, paying special attention to the fisheries sectors of Mozambique and Namibia.

The focus of the webinar was on developing fish- producing markets in this region which give lucrative opportunities for the international business community. A considerable amount of fisheries products of Mozambique and Namibia are exported to the European and Asian markets.

High Commissioner Amarasekara of Sri Lanka highlighted the opportunities available in these two markets and the movement of the international investment grants to the fishing industry focusing on community development.

The competition is coming from Spain, China, and Japan since they have already established their fishing businesses in this region. The unsaturated harvesting capacity of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans encourages new investments/ businesses to enter into these markets. Small and medium level entrepreneurs of the above two countries may be encouraged to venture into the fishing industry by introducing vessels of appropriate size and designs, for which, Sri Lankan boat manufacturing companies have the capacity.

State Secretary Dammika Mataraarachchi expressed the necessity of penetrating this market by advanced business models going beyond the traditional export business and promotes the high caliber of boating technology similar to the European and Japanese industries.

The participants said that the demand for the boats should be addressed from the viewpoint of eradication of poverty and fulfilling the nutrition gap of the community in the region.

High Commissioner Amarasekara agreed to discuss with the relevant authorities of the above two countries to seek opportunities for Sri Lankan boat manufacturers. State Secretary Mataraarachchi agreed to play the facilitating role for the Sri Lanka side.

Representing the industry, Kapila Sumanapala - Neil Marine Company, Z.M. Hairu – Hairu Naval Craft Engineering, Sumithra Fernando and Sachitra Fernando – Dhanusha Marine, D.V.Abeysinghe – Colombo Dockyard PLC, Indra Rajapaksha – BAFF Polymech participated and shared their experiences relevant to the African region.

The Commercial Section of the Mission organized and moderated the event.