The Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources, Mr. Ramalingam Chandrasekhar and the Secretary to the Ministry, Dr. B.K. Kolitha Kamal Jinadasa, during their official visit to Denmark, engaged in a series of special discussions with the heads of several leading business and investment institutions of the country on the 24th.

The main meetings held and their progress is as follows:

1. Discussions with the world’s shipping giant ‘MAERSK’: A special meeting was held with the Chief Product Officer – Ocean, Mr. Johan Sigsgaard, at the headquarters of MAERSK, the world’s second largest shipping company. Special attention was paid to providing professional opportunities for the young generation of Sri Lankan fishing families and experienced personnel in the maritime sector on the international ships of the MAERSK company. A preliminary agreement was reached to submit a proposal to implement practical training programs in collaboration with the existing maritime training institutions in Sri Lanka and to obtain a special job quota for Sri Lankans through this.

2. Discussions with the Danish Industry: The delegation met with Ole Linnet Juul, Senior Advisor of the Danish Industry, Denmark’s leading business association, and presented the potential of introducing digital technology to the Sri Lankan fishing sector, sustainable maritime tourism, renewable energy and establishing modern fish processing centers. The Danish side expressed its willingness to provide the necessary technical assistance to improve those sectors by identifying Sri Lanka’s priorities.

3. Impact Fund for Developing Countries (IFU / Impact Fund Denmark): Subsequently, in a discussion held with the Managing Director of the ‘Impact Fund’, Mr. Otto Vinther Christensen, attention was drawn to obtaining concessional low-interest loan facilities for public and private sector projects in the country. In particular, support can be obtained through this fund for green energy and fish processing factories, and the Minister invited Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to participate in an Investment Forum to be held in Sri Lanka to educate them on this.

Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekhar emphasized that a strong foundation was laid through this series of discussions to attract foreign investment to the country and to win international job opportunities.