Patna: The Bihar Chamber of Commerce and Industries is set to woo the people of Sri Lanka to develop trade relations between Bihar and the island nation.

It is sending a 20-member delegation to the country across the Palk Strait with proposals to boost mutual trade, industry and tourism.

Headed by chamber president P.K. Agrawal the delegation will visit various places in Sri Lanka, including Colombo and Candy, and will have extensive discussions with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, which was established in1839, and is among the oldest trade bodies in Asia.

Talks will also be held with industrialists, entrepreneurs, trade associations, Sri Lankan government officials on ways to strengthen mutual tourism and commerce.

"Our first objective of visiting Sri Lanka is trade and commerce. Besides, the visit is a goodwill mission too, as a large number of Buddhist pilgrims from the neighbouring country visit Bodhgaya and other places related to Buddhism in our state. The delegation will be visiting the island nation from January 17 to 24," Agrawal said.

The chamber members said talks on tourism development would be crucial because progress in the sector entails a lot of infrastructure work and growth in other areas such as hospitality, handicraft and local businesses.

The chamber president said the initiative to visit Sri Lanka has been taken because there are no trade relations with them despite inflow of tourists and many from Bihar visiting the country.

Agrawal added that the Sri Lankans established the Mahabodhi Society in Bodhgaya in 1891 but did not have trade ties with Bihar.