Secretary General Ohlson extended a warm welcome to ambassador Fonseka, on behalf of the council, to Sweden.
During the meeting, the Ambassador was informed about and discussed our business council’s activities and initiatives. The recent delegation with the Swedish Embassy in New Dehli, Business Sweden Swedish companies, and the council to Colombo was also informed about.
The discussions were fruitful, and we believe that this meeting will foster stronger relations between us.
3 questions for Dharshana M. Perera, who in March 2024 will take on a new post at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo, ending three intense years as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the Nordic and Baltic countries. Dharshana M. Perera has a long diplomatic career and prior to his career in diplomacy had worked as an academic and in the international Sri Lankan business community.
What do you take away from your three years as Ambassador to the New Nordics?
Among the important features I observed, were the values Sri Lanka shares with the region we refer to as the New Nordics which is covered by the Embassy in Stockholm. It includes Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Shared values of democracy, open economic orientation as well as the climate & environment are so critical to our societies to nurture. Sri Lanka is one of the oldest democracies in Asia and we share this heritage with this region. We are also open, export-oriented economies. We share similar views on climate and environment – deeply committed to reaching climate goals. This is a solid foundation for generating business with Sri Lanka and I am pleased to see that this area has particularly strengthened in recent years.
Foreign Minister, Hon. Ali Sabry, discussion in May 2023, significantly elevated the Bilateral engagement with Sweden with good outcomes from his meetings with Speaker, H.E. Andreas Norlén, and Swedish Foreign Minister H.E. Tobias Billström.
The Indo-Pacific EU Ministerial Meeting hosted by Sweden at the time was a significant opportunity for Sri Lanka’s engagement with the EU, placing Sri Lanka in the heart of the EU-Indo Pacific dialogue. His meetings with the SSLBC, top-level business executives in Stockholm and the business community as well as the Sri Lankan community added to the depth and breadth of our engagement.
Several Swedish companies have operations in Sri Lanka. How can relations be further developed?
Sweden has been and is an important partner to Sri Lanka. We established formal diplomatic relations 75 years ago, just a little over a year after Sri Lanka regained independence. The Kotmale hydroelectric dam symbolizes the excellent partnership in development cooperation. The dam was built by the international Swedish construction company Skanska financed by SIDA. It continues to provide electricity- a clean form of energy – and contributes to important irrigation solutions for agriculture and livelihoods. We are committed to ensure that by 2030, 70 % of Sri Lanka’s energy needs are renewable. But, this requires different partnerships, both in terms of investment financing and construction. Solar, wind and green hydrogen are where I see several openings for Swedish companies. Additionally, there is a valuable opportunity in the IT-sector. Several Swedish IT companies have long had important parts of their operations located in Sri Lanka. As Swedish IT company, IFS, has described Sri Lanka is ”the backbone of its global operations” and “the jewel in the IFS crown”. Other IT companies include Cambio, SoftOne, Ascentic, e-Builder and several others. Sri Lanka can be a catalyst in raising competitiveness of Swedish businesses by meeting the IT and tech needs which are in short supply, especially in AI and other sectors. The multifaceted, diverse, compact, all-year-round destination is another area for a stronger partnership with the New Nordic Region. Sri Lanka’s tourism product really does encapsulate Asia in one Island. Apart from the Embassy, Sweden Sri Lanka businesses including the Sweden-Sri Lanka Business Council (SSLBC) have an important role to play and be a strong voice for business and to raise awareness of the business opportunities in several sectors. Sri Lanka and I personally are grateful for the very productive collaboration we have with the President at the SSLBC, Jan Campbell, and his team of the SSLBC.
Can business relations with Sri Lanka also be strengthened in Sweden?
The past year has been particularly successful in the business pillar. Firstly, in partnership with Innovation Lab, Copenhagen, the Export Development Board and SLASSCOM, the Embassy at the Consulate in Gothenburg in May/June 2023 organized the IT Nordic Mission in the respective cities. Following the release of the IT Eco System IT Industry Report in Copenhagen and the engagement with the business partners in the three major cities, several IT and technology partnerships were established. This builds upon the excellent Sweden-Sri Lanka IT-related business enterprise we have.
Secondly, the Embassy was part of the team which conceptualized and facilitated the multi-tiered initiative on CleanTech transport, Clean Energy systems, e-mobility and IT which led to the establishment of a ground breaking partnership between one of Sri Lanka’s most diversified IT conglomerates – OREL IT – and Gothenburg’s ANODOX. The agreements were signed in October 2023. This was followed by a soft launch in Gothenburg. It will link the country into the EV battery global supply network. This project, amongst others, symbolizes the untapped potential for business which exists between the two countries and the region, bringing together synergies with Sri Lanka. We had excellent support from facilitators such as MobilityGuard, Gothenburg. The Mayor of Partille Municipality and Business Region Gothenburg support the partnership.
In summary, Sri Lanka can be an excellent partner with the region to sharpen the competitiveness and to diversify supply networks in a range of business pillars. The well-educated, highly skilled, English speaking talent pool with good business practice makes this engagement robust for long term mutually beneficial business partnerships.
Naturally, we and our partners are enthused about celebrating 75 years of diplomatic relations in 2024 – the anniversary which falls on 19th November this year.
3 quick questions for Jan Thesleff, Sweden’s ambassador to India, the Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. He has worked as a diplomat for 36 years and has previously served as ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt among other countries. Jan Thesleff describes Sri Lanka as innovative and green. The pace of innovation is high in the country’s IT sector and the country’s energy system is now being converted to renewable energy.
1. What are Sri Lanka’s main assets as a trading partner? The biggest asset is human capital, a highly educated workforce, especially in the IT sector where many global IT companies have strategic establishments in the country. Another way to describe the role of human capital is Sri Lanka’s third place behind China and India in terms of the number of student visas to Swedish universities. Sri Lanka is also geographically very well placed with proximity to larger neighboring countries and can therefore serve as a springboard for establishments in the Asian market.
2. How can trade between Sri Lanka and Sweden be developed? Next year, Sri Lanka and Sweden will celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations. We look forward to further strengthening the relationship over the next 25 years and beyond. Based on the manufacturing industry, the assessment is that Sri Lanka’s IT sector will play an increasingly important role in trade in the future. The sector has experienced rapid growth in a short period of time and it is therefore reasonable to speak of a Sri Lankan IT wonder. The tourism sector also has great potential as part of trade in services. Sri Lanka has gone through a steel bath and can now offer a very high quality and updated tourism product to discerning Swedish visitors.
3. The SSLBC member survey identified business visas to Sweden as a problem area. How does the Embassy work with this? The ability to travel is fundamental to doing business across national borders and for maintaining existing business relationships. The Embassy is aware of the current situation and is working to facilitate business travel to Sweden. In this context, it is also important to point out that the issue is not specific to Sri Lanka. At the same time, it is valuable for the Embassy to receive feedback from the SSLBC members through the member survey. It is also important to mention that there is a new honorary consul in Colombo who has an important role in promoting our bilateral exchange in trade and visits.
