Monday, May 23 2005 09:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: India and Sri Lanka are optimistic about an early and successful conclusion of ongoing discussions on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to include investment and services into a bilateral agreement framework, a senior Sri Lankan official said yesterday (May 22, 2005).

As part of the discussions on CEPA, the first Working Group sessions were concluded in Colombo this month and the second round is scheduled for as early as June, Saliya Wickramasuriya, Chairman of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, said in Bangalore.

"As co-chair of he Working Group on Investment and Economic Cooperation, I can confirm that there was considerable convergence of thought during these discussions and that both countries are optimistic about an early and successful conclusion," he said.

Wickramasuriya was speaking at the inauguration of the first-ever overseas office of the Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka, the investment promotion arm of the island nation, attended by Sri Lankan Minister for Tourism and Investment Promotion Anura Bandaranaike.

In his speech, Bandaranaike said the growing economic cooperation between India and Sri Lanka at the governmental and private sector levels during the part decade, particularly after the implementation of the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement in 2000, has generated substantial benefits in trade and investment for both countries.