For the first time in Japan the Sri Lankan Motor Vehicle Summit was organized by the Sri Lankan Business Council of Japan (SLBCJ) together with the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Tokyo. The Summit successfully took place from the 8th December to the 11th December 2011 at the Grand Price Hotel, Takanawa. Over 100 motor traders took part in the summit with 26 participants from Sri Lanka.
H.E. Ambassador Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda was the chief guest at the seminar held on the 11th December and the Grand Prince Hotel, Takanawa. His speech touched upon the current and historic friendly relationships between the two nations and emphasized the importance of having this summit in order to facilitate the export of high quality Japanese vehicles to Sri Lanka. He also expressed that this sort of dialogues between exporters and importers should continue bi-annually or at least annually, so that it would finally benefit all concerned.
Jagath C. Ramanayake (President of RamaDBK and SLBCJ) delivered an informative presentation during the seminar regarding the main reasons for SLBCJ to call for a Motor Vehicle Summit in Tokyo which included the below:
•Over 40 years history in the car trade between Japan and Sri Lanka.
•Vehicles represent more than 50% of the total exports from Japan to Sri Lanka.
•Exports multiplied by 10 times in the past year with the new government regulations.
•Sri Lanka stood at the 6th highest vehicle importer in 2010 with 7.4% of vehicles been exported to Sri Lanka from Japan in 2010.
However, after a successful year in vehicle exports in 2010, many concerns presented themselves in 2011. Some of which included the appreciation of the Japanese Yen against other currencies, the devastating Northeast earthquake that impacted on vehicle productions and the nuclear disaster in Fukushima with the problem of radioactive contamination.
The summit aimed at resolving these concerns and assisting all parties involved in the vehicle trade of Japan and Sri Lanka. It openly encouraged ideas between the importers and exporters whilst searching for innovative solutions. Furthermore, the summit strived to assist the government and officials to design measures for prosperity of the vehicle industry in Sri Lanka and laid plans for future developments of the vehicle trade between both countries.
Most importantly the purpose of the summit was not only to promote vehicle trades between the countries but to find mutual solutions for all concerned with protecting the buyer in Sri Lanka being a high priority.
