Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has announced their support to small and medium enterprises in Sri Lanka during a delegation-level visit to Colombo last week. A press release issued by Sri Lankan government today quoted CII's Council Member Shreekant Somany as saying that there is new interest and vigour in India with regard to Sri Lanka and this is an opportune moment to make a real difference for industry and businesses at both sides. <br/><br/>The delegation which met Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen, said that CII has lots of expertise in areas of education and skills, water management, agriculture, IT/ICT and renewable energy-all these being important to Sri Lanka as well. He said CII has centres of excellence in several aspects-such as logistics, sustainability, green initiatives, quality and leadership etc. <br/><br/>which can directly support needs of Lankan businesses and SMEs-such as training.<br/><br/>Sri Lankan minister thanked CII for its support to Sri Lanka and recalled CII's initiatives in Colombo in 2012 leading to high-powered CII delegation visit. The current visit comes days before Foreign Secretary S.Jaishankar is leading a high level business delegation to Colombo later this week. <br/><br/>The move also assumes significance as both sides are negotiating to finalise Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) in a bid to enhance trade in services and technology sector.