Sri Lanka’s Development Strategies Minister says country received US$ 2.3 billion worth FDIs last year
Development Strategies and International Trade Ministry of Sri Lanka has reportedly announced that the country has drawn the highest ever Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) worth US$ 2.3 billion last year.
Development Strategies and International Trade Minister of Sri Lanka Malik Samarawickrama is now optimistic of increasing the FDI inflow to the country to US$ 3 billion this year.
The 2018 achievement and forecast for 2019 was revealed by the Minister when he spoke at the launch of a Rs. 30 billion mixed development project in Battaramaulla by the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development on Friday as a public private partnership with Riemersma Management Company (RMC)’s Essar Project, local media reports stated.
“Despite the political crisis towards the end of last year, we have overcome it and are moving forward resolutely,” Minister Samarawickrama has said.
“What is clear from how it was resolved is that there is no room for unconstitutional acts in our country, and we have shown that the Judiciary stands firmly and strongly on the side of what is right.
This should give an enormous sense of confidence to any foreign investor – and where the Judiciary remains independent and just, there is a good foundation for international business. We have shown the resilience of our institutions – something which our Government strived hard to build since winning the elections in 2015,” the Minister has been quoted as saying at the event.
He has added that last year Sri Lanka had welcomed two delegations of Sovereign Wealth Funds including from the Investment Corporation of Dubai, Temasek International of Singapore, Khazanah Malaysia, and the Kuwait Investment Authority.
“During these visits, they explored opportunities in the Megapolis project, as well as strategic tourism projects,” he has noted.
According to Samarawickrama, last year Sri Lanka’s Board of Investments (BOI) had introduced the ‘SWIFT’ online portal for investor applications and investor approvals, connecting dozens of regulatory agencies and other authorities with just a few clicks. “
OSL take:
The receipt of FDIs worth US$ 2.3 billion by Sri Lanka in 2018 is indicative of the increasing business/investors confidence in the island nation as well as the expanding business/investment opportunities in the country. Given the continuous growth in FDIs to Sri Lanka in the past few years, the government is likely to achieve the target of US$ 3 billion FDIs for this year. The expansion in many key sectors in the country’s economy has opened up many business/investment opportunities for potential foreign businesses/investors to explore.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/05022019/Z_1 |