Sri Lanka's total value of trade with Korea amounted to 4% of our total value of trade in 1999.

Overview of Sri Lanka - Korea Trade
A Sri Lanka-Korea Economic Co-operation Committee was set up on 4th November 1982, under the aegis of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. The objectives of the committee are to attract Korean investment to Sri Lanka, to promote bilateral trade between the two countries with emphasis on the promotion of exports to Korea, to encourage the transfer of expertise from Korea to Sri Lanka and to encourage the growth of tourism from Korea to Sri Lanka. Over all, the economic co-operation committee has met nine times, five times in Sri Lanka and four times in Korea.

Sri Lanka's Major Exports to Korea include:
Woven fabrics textiles and garments, electrical machinery and parts, apparel clothing accessories, machinery and parts, mixed coir fibre - other and fibre products, coco peat, leather travel goods and bags.

Sri Lanka's Major Imports from Korea include:
Woven fabrics, yarn and thread, synthetic fibres, electrical and electronic items, machinery and machinery parts.

Prospects for Trade and Investment
Sri Lanka has the potential to expand the export of value added rubber products, such as healthcare products, solid rubber tyres, footwear for industrial use and other latex based items such as household, industrial and surgical gloves.

Desiccated coconut
In relation to coconut fibre and fibre based products, there is significant potential to further expand exports of bristle, twisted fibre, geo textiles, coir fibre pith, various kinds of brushes, door mats, matting as well as rubberised coir based products for the automobile industry. There seems to be a number of areas where growing interest has been observed in new applications for rubberised coir fibre, such as in civil construction weed killer mats. These can also be explored.

The trend for environmentally friendly biodegradable natural products like geo textiles manufactured from coir fibre, has opened opportunities for export to Korea.

There is also a lot of potential to expand exports of activated carbon to Korea since the total imports are in the region of about 12,000 million tons per year.

Other products with enormous potential are floricultural products particularly rooted plants, uprooted cuttings/cane, tissues, cultured plants, cut flowers, cut decorative leaves and flower seeds.

There is also opportunity for exports of calibrated gemstones, diamonds and jewellery, with prospects for collaboration with Korean partners.

Since Korea imports more than US$ one billion worth of garments, there are also enormous prospects for export of Sri Lankan textiles and textile based products, which at the moment is only Rs. 200 to 300 million.

Other potential product areas are limonite, graphite and silica sand, canned and processed fruits and juices, processed gherkins, baby corn, essential oils and spices.

Sectors that can be identified for business collaboration between the two countries are:
Canned fruit and juices, rubber products (particularly those mentioned above), desiccated coconut, fibre and fibre based products, activated carbon, floriculture products, coloured gem stones and diamonds, minerals, garments and essential oils.

Koreans are the largest investors in Sri Lanka. There are over 100 ongoing investments in commercial operations.

Areas highlighted for future investments are:
Electronics, light engineering and value added manufacturing items, garments and textiles, housing projects, ship building, repairing and breaking, software development, leisure projects and infrastructure development projects.