Sri Lankan mission in Japan connected over 200 investors during Sri Lanka Investment Forum
Sri Lanka’s Embassy in Japan has reportedly facilitated the connection of investors in diverse sectors at the recently concluded Sri Lanka Investment Forum (SLIF) 2021.
The Embassy had reportedly attracted 220 potential investors through its outreach and marketing efforts in a cross section of segments including software, pharmaceutical, agricultural and manufacturing where Sri Lanka has a comparative advantage as a low-cost high-quality labour environment. Sri Lanka also has access to 1.6 billion people through Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with India and Pakistan.
According to reports, another commonality and potential that was highlighted was in the field of agriculture with small farming size in both countries and the ability to transfer Japanese technology to increase crop yields and productivity.
The keynote speakers at the country-specific virtual session included Ambassadors of Japan and Sri Lanka, Chairman of Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BOI), Chairman Noritake-Japan Ltd., CEO of Colombo Stock Exchange, Country Director of JETRO as well as Chairman Dockyard Sri Lanka and Chairman of Expo Lanka Ltd.
Japanese officials from the Ministry of Economic Trade and Industry (METI), and Japan International Cooperation Industry (JICA) have reportedly congratulated the informative session and positive responses that were received from prospective investors. JICA Sri Lanka Chief Representative Tetsuya Yamada has been quoted as saying, “Congratulations to the great success of the Investment Forum, which gave a lot of useful information and made me feel the appetite of investors towards Sri Lanka.”
OSL take:
Sri Lanka is fast emerging as a business destination in the South Asian region given it’s geographical positioning in the Indian ocean and the many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed by the country. The government of Sri Lanka is also engaged in an aggressive development programme and improving the ease of doing business environment in the country. All these have poised Sri Lanka to become a business hub. Foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka, including in it’s development programme. Foreign businesses/investors could also look at setting up base in Sri Lanka to engage with other countries in the region.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20210628/Z_7 |