Sri Lanka clears lands purchased by foreign-owned listed companies following lifting of ban
The Cabinet of Ministers in Sri Lanka has reportedly corrected an anomaly in a land ownership law and cleared purchases of land by foreign-owned listed companies before 1 April 2018 when a ban on foreign land ownership was lifted.
According to reports, listed companies in which foreigners owned over half the share capital had been prohibited from buying lands in Sri Lanka by the Restriction on Alienation of Land Act No. 38 of 2014.
Sri Lanka’s Government Information Department has stated that the restriction was removed in 2018 following amendments to the law.
However, while that amendment covered lands bought by foreign-owned companies after 1 April 2018, it made no provision for previous land purchases by them, the report states.
The statement of the Government Information Department has stated that Cabinet of ministers had this week approved an amendment to the law proposed by finance minister Mangala Samaraweera to clear the anomaly.
OSL take:
Sri Lankan authorities have taken several steps to woo foreign investments to the country and relaxing laws pertaining to the ownership of lands by foreign invested companies in the island is one such step. The government of Sri Lanka has also taken many steps to improve the ease of doing business environment in the country. Given Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean and the country’s development programme would definitely make Sri Lanka the ideal business destination in the South Asian region.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/21062019/Z_3 |