In an interview with Newswire, Santosh Menon, president of the Lanka India Business Association (LIBA), outlined the association’s focused strategy to strengthen business relations between Sri Lanka and India.
Menon stressed that many Sri Lankan businesspeople remain unaware of the vast potential in the Indian market—a gap LIBA aims to bridge through research, facilitation, and market outreach
“Not enough Sri Lankans are aware of the opportunity of being in a big Indian marketplace. This was the driving reason behind why we established Lanka India Business Association(LIBA). We wanted to make sure that we provide a facilitating mechanism whereby businessmen who are interested in looking at this opportunity are allowed the access and knowledge of the Indian Market,” Menon explained.
LIBA was established to fill a vital gap between Indian and Sri Lankan business ties. According to Menon, as a five month old association, LIBA is prioritizing opportunities in India’s five Southern States.
“Each state is two to three times the size of Sri Lanka with USD 1.5 trillion economy and a population of nearly 350 million people. Our focus is to analyze these markets and identify where the best opportunities lie for Sri Lankan businesses, whether it is in exports or forming partnerships with Indian counterparts,” he commented.
While opportunities are abundant, challenges remain. The LIBA President acknowledged that part of their challenge is the mindset in Sri Lankan people whether to engage with the Indian market.
He emphasized, “There is also a challenge with regard to the FTAs being 25 years old. There is definitely the need to break policy barriers and ensure that there is incredible trade between India and Sri Lanka, considering that many countries are standing in line to do FTAs with India. Sri Lanka, being the neighborhood country, there is a greater opportunity to consider.”
LIBA has been actively creating opportunities by connecting Sri Lankan businesses with Indian partners, helping both sides navigate collaborative ventures. When asked about what the reception was like when he launched LIBA, his answer was, “People are asking a lot of questions and they are cautiously optimistic. We are using the members we have now as testimonials to go out there and get us more members.”
“My hope in the next six to twelve months is to have at least three or four success stories where we can proudly claim that we facilitated these entities, built awareness and successfully took them to India to start their businesses”.
Menon concluded that looking to the future, LIBA is planning to do a full analysis of the Indian market. They have already tied up with Frontier Research who has been their leading partner thanks to Class who funded the entire research.
The association’s mission is clear: to build awareness, facilitate connections, and empower Sri Lankan enterprises to expand into one of the world’s fastest-growing markets.
Get information from liba.lk to become part of Lanka India Business Association.
