EU to make Sri Lanka an attractive investment destination for potential investors says envoy
The Morning: Ambassador for the European Union (EU) to Sri Lanka and Maldives Denis Chaibi, stated “the EU would like to make Sri Lanka an attractive investment destination for potential investors from the EU” while speaking on the bilateral trade and EU investment in Sri Lanka.
He made this remark during the investor dialogue which was chaired by Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa, on 31 January at the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and ambassador Chaibi co-chaired the meeting.
Ambassador Chaibi further spoke of the bilateral trade and EU investment in Sri Lanka stating “this kind of dialogue is an important forum to solve the issues of EU investors and retain them in Sri Lanka in the long run”.
Board of Investment (BOI) Chairman Eng. Raja Edirisuriya delivered the opening remarks and gave an overview of the economic situation, foreign investment trend in 2021 and the latest measures and regulations to support foreign investment.
Concluding, BOI Chairman Eng. Raja Edirisuriya stated: “Doing business in Sri Lanka has now returned to normalcy, despite what the country went through with the pandemic.” He further stated that “the BOI looks forward to working closely with the EU to facilitate the existing investors as well as to encourage the existing companies to re-invest and expand their operations in Sri Lanka”.
The European Union was represented by High Commissioner to the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Sri Lanka Holger Seubert, High Commissioner to the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka and the Maldives Eric Lavertue, High Commissioner to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Sri Lanka Tania Gonggrijp, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Italy in Sri Lanka Franceso Perale, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium (based in India) Arnaud Lion, Economic Counsellor at the Embassy of France in Sri Lanka Jean-Alexandre Egea, Deputy Head of Mission for the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Thorsten Bargfrede, who also co-ordinated this event.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka and the EU enjoy strong bilateral and trade ties with Sri Lanka also enjoying the EU GSP Plus trade concessions. This has resulted in the EU becoming one of Sri Lanka’s key export markets. Sri Lanka’s exports sector has shown a steady growth despite facing pandemic challenges. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is also engaged in an aggressive development programme aimed at taking the country to the next level of development. The country’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean, the many trade agreements as well as concessions enjoyed by the country and the ease of doing business environment have all helped boost Sri Lanka’s attraction as a growing business destination in the South Asian region. The business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka are also expanding along with the ongoing development programme. Businesses/investors in the EU could therefore confidently explore the growing opportunities in Sri Lanka and also look at forming partnerships or joint ventures with local businesses.
Article Code : | VBS/AT/14022022/Z_1 |