It was resolved during a meeting in Beijing, China, wherein leadership of SAARC Chamber of Commerce &
Industry (SAARC CCI) and CCPIT (China Council for Promotion of International Trade), agreed to jointly organize 14th China South Asia Business Forum in Kunming, China on June 12, 2019. The leadership alsoagreed to give Chair of 14th edition China South Asia Business Forum (CSABF) to SriLanka.
Mr. Ruwan Edirisinghe, President SAARC CCI, Chaired the meeting and applauded the foreign policies ofthe Chinese Government towards South Asian countries. SAARC CCI Vice Presidents, Mr. Chandi RajDhakal, (Nepal) and Dr. Rohita Silva (Sri Lanka), Executive Members, Mr. Zubair Ahmed Malik (Pakistan)
and Mr. Keerthi Gunawardana (Sri Lanka), SCWEC Vice Chair, Ms. Shaira Saleem (Maldives), DirectorGeneral Indian Chamber, Dr. Rajeev Singh represented their respective countries in the meetings. Ms. Hina
Saeed, Secretary General, SAARC CCI and Mr. Zulfiqar Butt, Deputy Secretary General, were also present to
facilitate the proceedings.
The objective of the meeting was to seek valuable input from members for a meaningful and productive 14th
CSABF. The meeting aimed to foster economic and trade cooperation between China and South Asian
countries through this forum. The meeting focused on the forum theme, invitees, boosting cooperation
mechanism for CSABF 2019 and development of online portal to boost b2b meetings between SAARC and
Chinese enterprises.
Mr. Liu, Chairman CCPIT, also expressed his desire for Chinese investment in Industrial Parks of each
member country for pilot projects. SAARC CCI welcomes this idea and requests CCPIT to come up with
potential investors (FDI) for each member country and SAARC CCI will facilitate those investments in
industrial parks in member countries.
CSABF is the first ever cooperation mechanism established for regional economic cooperation between
Chinese and SAARC industrial and commercial circles in 2005, in the context of ever-increasing mutual trust
in political affairs and continuous economic cooperation between China and South Asian countries under the
aegis of CCPIT Yunnan Sub-Council and SAARC CCI.
Caption: The group photo of leadership of SAARC CCI and CCPIT at the conclusion of the meeting.
