Business mission from New Zealand to arrive in April

Mar 20, 2018 (LBO) – A group of 20 delegates representing 13 innovative New Zealand companies will arrive in Colombo on 2nd April for a 3-day visit to continue forging business and trade links with Sri Lanka. The delegation, led by New Zealand Trade Commissioner for Sri Lanka, Ralph Hays, builds on the momentum of previous missions and strengthens New Zealand’s relationship with Sri Lanka ahead of the New Zealand High Commission opening in Colombo in 2019. This trade mission will provide an opportunity for New Zealand companies to establish and consolidate partnerships with current and potential Sri Lankan business partners. The New Zealand companies on this mission are a reflection of the country’s diverse economy, representing areas such as medical technology, software and hardware technology, design and construction, marine, and aviation training. “We continue to see strong interest from New Zealand and Sri Lanka in strengthening business relations between both countries,” Hays said. “Both New Zealand companies as well as the Government are focused on pursuing commercial opportunities in the dairy, infrastructure, marine, aviation and information technology sectors with Sri Lanka.” Two way trade between New Zealand and Sri Lanka has grown by 31 prcent over the past three years, and is now worth New Zealand Dollar 367 million (41.3 billion LKR). The majority of trade in goods is commodity based, but there are increasing opportunities in a variety of sectors including tourism, aviation, agriculture, electronics and education. Hays leads New Zealand Trade & Enterprise’s (NZTE) activity in Sri Lanka and South India. He has been with NZTE for 7 years and during this time has been Trade Commissioner and Consul General in Sao Paulo and Business Development Manager for Spain and Portugal based in Madrid. NZTE is New Zealand’s international business development agency.