Korean firm in talks to manufacture mobile phones in Sri Lanka

Micro Electric International, local partner for joint venture

Renowned Korean mobile phone company, Lodule International Ltd., is in talks with the Lankan authorities to launch an international joint venture with a Sri Lankan counterpart to manufacture mobile phones in Sri Lanka, a press release from the Sri Lankan embassy in the Republic of Korea said.

The release adds-

‘The CEO of Lodule International Ltd. in the Republic of Korea, Byungchul Kim and Senior Director Donghan Shin called on the ambassador of Sri Lanka, Dr. A. Saj U. Mendis, at the embassy to further discuss the aforementioned international joint venture (IJV) and to find the most efficacious navigation of the proposed IJV in Sri Lanka. The international joint venture (IJV) partner in Sri Lanka is the reputed corporate Micro Electric International (Pvt) Ltd. headed and founded by Dhammika Samarawickrama.

‘The CEO of Lodule International Ltd., Byungchul Kim, and the Senior Director of the Company explained and expounded, in detail, to Dr. Mendis and senior officials of the Commercial Division of the embassy of their company and the functionaries of the company since its formation in 2004. Chairman Kim stated that most of the products and goods manufactured in Lodule International are being exported to other countries mostly to the ASEAN and China. He added that Lodule has a large facility in China, and along with the facilities in the RoK, they produce contactless thermometers, Android cloud tablets, iPhones & Smartphones mostly for the export market. During the meeting, ambassador Dr. Mendis and Commercial Division of the embassy had a zoom/virtual conference call with Dhammika Samarawickrama, Chairman of Micro Electric International in Sri Lanka, to discuss the stratagem to expedite the IJV in Sri Lanka. The two IJV partners from the RoK and Sri Lanka were, first, introduced to each other by the Most Venerable Katuwana Vijithawansha Thero of Sri Lankaramaya Temple in the city of Daegu in the RoK.

‘This would be the first ever occasion that state-of-the-art smartphones are manufactured, solely, in Sri Lanka. Micro Electric International, the Sri Lankan partner of the IJV, has been in operation for nearly three decades and chairman Samarawickrama has been engaged in a large number of charitable and philanthropic activities, mostly with regard to extending of employment opportunities to prisoners in prisons in Sri Lanka, apart from commercial and economic endeavors. The negotiations and discussions have been conducted on virtual/zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the zoom/virtual conference call at the embassy, with the intervention and intercession of the ambassador Dr. Mendis, chairman Byungchul Kim and chairman of Micro Electric International, Samarawickrama, discussed that the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) had to be agreed upon by both the sides and would follow up with an MoU, thus paving the way for the operation of the proposed IJV to manufacture smart/mobile phones in Sri Lanka.’