Sri Lankan government to offer incentives to help tourism industry bounce back
Finance Minister of Sri Lanka Mangala Samaraweera says that the Sri Lankan government is looking at formulating a package of measures to help the country’s tourism industry to bounce back quickly and contain the terror threat following recent attacks by a group of extremist terrorists.
Samaraweera has told Bloomberg television that Sri Lanka will give import duty waivers to bring in scanners and security related equipment while taking action to shut down an Islamist terror cell.
The Minister has said the tourism industry has requested for support including duty waivers to import security equipment.
“We will be giving serious consideration to these suggestions,” Samaraweera has said.
He has noted that while there may have been a lapse initially, authorities were shutting down a terror network and improving security.
“Sri Lanka security forces and police are very much on the top of the situation,” he has said adding that there already indications of tourists returning.
OSL take:
The Sri Lankan government’s move to offer incentives to the tourism sector to help it bounce back from the recent extremist attacks is an encouraging sign for those already engaged in the industry as well as those considering investing in the sector. Sri Lanka’s tourism sector is already showing signs of revival with daily tourist arrivals being recorded. Therefore foreign businesses/investors could explore business opportunities in Sri Lanka’s tourism sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/07052019/Z_1 |