President to fast-track approval of investments, projects to spur higher economic growth
Daily FT: President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has assured to expedite approval of new investments by simplifying procedures as part of aiming to achieve higher economic growth.
Speaking at the inauguration of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce-organised Sri Lanka Economic Summit, the President detailed the longer time taken for various approvals.
“We recently held an in-depth discussion with Ministry Secretaries and Government officials from institutions related to investments. During this meeting, it was revealed that securing approval for an investment in Sri Lanka requires clearance from 82 different institutions. According to the report, obtaining these approvals currently takes over two and a half years,” Dissanayake said during a Fireside Chat with The Ceylon Chamber Deputy Chairman Bingumal Thewarathanthri.
“For environmental approvals alone, there are 11 institutions involved, and the process takes approximately 269 days. In practical terms, this exceeds two years. The Government plans to reduce this timeline to less than 82 days,” assured the President.
Similarly, an investment project requires approvals from eight additional institutions, which currently takes around 184 weeks. “We aim to reduce this to 102 days,” he added.
For evaluating and making decisions on a project, the Board of Investment (BOI) currently takes around 80 days. The President said the goal is to streamline this process to less than two weeks.
He charged that previous Governments failed to attract investments effectively, and the BOI has not operated efficiently. “To address these issues, a new structure has been proposed through the Economic Transformation Act. However, this Act currently lacks a comprehensive implementation mechanism. The present Government intends to move forward with the Act, incorporating necessary amendments,” revealed Dissanayake.
“If we expect a higher rate of economic growth, we must ensure that all necessary facilities and processes for attracting foreign direct investment are efficient and investor-friendly,” Dissanayake emphasised.
The Government anticipates an economic growth rate exceeding 4% this year as against 5% last year from a low base in 2023.
“While this [4% growth] is a challenging target in the face of recent economic downturns, we view it as achievable. We are prioritising several key sectors to ensure success in this endeavour,” the President told the Economic Summit inauguration, attended by over 700 persons.
“We also have a significant opportunity to achieve rapid growth in the tourism sector. This year, we aim to attract over 3 million tourists to Sri Lanka,” he said.
The President also spoke of potential for substantial growth in the information technology and maritime sectors.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s path to becoming a hub in the South Asian region is also rested upon the attraction of more foreign businesses/investors into the country. The country’s strategic positioning in the Indian Ocean, the many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed by Sri Lanka with other countries and the many incentive schemes offered by the Sri Lankan authorities, all serve to support the country in its target of expanding foreign investments into the country. The Sri Lankan government’s commitment to further improve the ease of doing business environment in the country would also give a further impetus to the programme to attract foreign businesses/investors into the country. The ongoing economic expansion in Sri Lanka has also expanded business/investment opportunities in key economic sectors in the country. The strong banking industry has further assisted in the expansion of businesses indicating an increase in Sri Lanka’s business potential. Foreign businesses/investors could therefore confidently explore the expanding opportunities in Sri Lanka while also looking at expanding operations through local collaborations.
Article Code : | VBS/AT/20250205/Z_2 |