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Sri Lanka to invest Rs3.5bnl in Kalutara for industrial park

Sri Lanka to invest Rs3.5bnl in Kalutara for industrial park

Sri Lanka will invest LKR 3.5 billion for an industrial park in the Kalutara region. According to the State Minister International Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe, the park which is to be built in the Millaniya, Kalutara will be then offered to the Rojana Industrial Park Public Limited of Thailand.
He commented “The process to acquire the land for the project is still ongoing as are talks with the Ceylon Electricity Board, Water Board and the Road Developed Authority”, and that “We are to get all the approvals and build the infrastructure in one year.”
The Industrial Park will span 150 acres of land area and will be built on a rubber estate belonging to Horana Plantations. The industrial park is expected to be completed in 2018 and will be operated by Rojana Industrial Park Public Limited of Thailand, a company which is a joint venture between Japan’s Nippon Steel and Thailand’s Vinichbutr Group.
Minister Senasinghe further commented that “Under the phase one we expect an investment in the excess of US$ 500 million. The existing parks are almost full and Sri Lanka has not had any new industrial parks developed after the early 2000s. To bring in investors we need parks of this nature,”
It has also been suggested that a special exit be created at Palpola to provide easier access from the highway to the industrial park. Rojana Industrial Park Public Limited, signed a letter of intent on the 21st of August at the BOI auditorium.
According to Chai Vinichbutr, Vice President, Rojana Industrial Park Public Limited, Sri Lanka provides good investment climate and that was the reason they decided to set up this in Sri Lanka. He further added that Sri Lanka’s geographical location and investor friendly legislature were also consideration in making this decision.
He also was quoted, “We have set up factories with them and we will talk with them to set up their operations in this Park. We aim to draw investors making electronic home appliances like television sets initially and later get auto parts manufacturers. We will also market some of these products locally. The minimum labour wage in Sri Lanka too is still workable for foreign investors,” he remarked. Rojana are expanding their operations in Thailand and are currently developing two new Industrial Parks in the Eastern Seaboard of Chonburi Province.”

OSL Take

A positive and confident move by the administration the commitment towards building an industrial park in Kalutara has to be lauded. Rojana Industrial Park Public Limited, currently operates around 7 industrial parks in Thailand and has the potential to bring factories that will be manufacturing goods in Sri Lanka in areas such as automotive.
The initial investment is also at a high level for a project this size and will send a considerable message to anyone interested in Investing in Sri Lanka that, investor climate is friendly. Also, OSL expects many such industrial zones to be facilitated and establishing throughout the country in the coming future.

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Article Code : VBS/AT/28082017/Z_3

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