Greater Mekong Subregion Business Council said that there is tremendous potential in trade and investments opportunities with mutual benefits for Sri Lanka and for the Mekong countries that could help the Sri Lankan economy in a bigger way.  Especially in countries such as Myanmar which opened its economy following a transition of power to a democratically elected government, Sri Lanka can reap the benefits from industries such as construction, healthcare and even education in the country.  

The Council, which held its Annual General Meeting recently saw the re-election of Andre Fernando as its President, noted out a number of areas where both parties can work together to bring economic benefits  to the countries.  

The Council has identified that Sri Lanka should focus on finding innovative ways to generate power whilst Sri Lanka can help countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar in sharing the knowledge and technical guidance to promote the usage of energy. Sri Lanka could also learn from Thailand to improve the Information & Communications Technology (ICT) sector which the Thais have achieved tremendous growth over the last few years. The Council also noted that Sri Lanka could also jointly develop the agriculture sector with Thailand.  

They further suggested that the Sri Lankan banking sector can collaborate with Greater Mekong countries which will be important to accelerate more trade & investment opportunities.