New Delhi, Jan 27: India and Sri Lanka today agreed to increase cooperation in six areas of the small scale sector -- food technology, fisheries, light engineering, automobiles and auto components, leather industry, IT, and cottage industry. Rohita Bogollagama, the visiting Sri Lankan Minister of Industries, said here that his country could learn from the Indian industry by cooperating on investor-to-investor, industry-to-industry and enterprise-to-enterprise levels.

Bogollagama was speaking to reporters after the signing of a MoU on cooperation in small scale industries between India and Sri Lanka.

It was signed by secretary (SSI and ARI) B S Minhas and secretary to the Sri Lanka's Ministry of Industries Upananda Vidanapathirana in the presence of Bogollagama and C P Thakur, the SSI minister. The MoU envisages carrying out industrial surveys and feasibility studies to identify thrust areas and opportunities for development of small scale industries in Sri Lanka.


It would also seek to promote partnership projects and promote institution-to-institution and enterprise-to-enterprise cooperation as well as exchange experiences to provide training and encourage research for improvement of private sector's managerial skills, exchange of experts and exchange of marketing technologies.

As per the MoU, contact between enterpreneurs of the two countries and marketing of products and projects in the small scale sector would be arranged, besides technology transfer and sustainable business alliances. Bureau Report