India’s National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL) and Sri Lanka’s Consumer Cooperative Societies Federation (COOPFED) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate the supply of essential food commodities from India to Sri Lankan markets.
The MoU was signed by NCEL Managing Director Unupom Kausik and COOPFED Chairman Dr. Shantha Jayaratne in the presence of Sri Lanka’s Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe and Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha.
The partnership is expected to establish a cooperative-to-cooperative channel for supplying Indian food products to Sri Lanka, potentially strengthening market linkages and supporting food availability. It also expands the role of NCEL in connecting India’s cooperative products with international markets.
NCEL, established in 2023 as the apex organisation for cooperative exports, works to facilitate market access, quality standards, certification, logistics, branding and other requirements for cooperative-sector exports.
The MoU comes as India and Sri Lanka continue efforts to strengthen bilateral trade and commercial ties. Discussions between High Commissioner Santosh Jha and Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe alongside the signing also covered bilateral trade matters, including the proposed upgrading of the existing India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement.
For the cooperative sector, the agreement demonstrates how institutional partnerships can create direct channels between cooperative enterprises and overseas consumer markets.
