Sri Lanka’s IDB allocate lands for viable business proposals
The Morning: The Industrial Development Board (IDB) will formulate an action plan to make lands available to viable business proposals upon evaluating the responses received under the survey on ‘Business Ideas, Start-up Potentials, and Land Requirements’ launched by the IDB on Monday (16).
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, IDB Chairman Ravi Nissanka said that the IDB had launched a ‘Comprehensive Survey on Business Ideas, Start-up Potentials, and Land Requirements’ on 16 December through a public notice.
According to him, this survey aims to assess public attitudes towards start-ups and business ventures.
“This initiative is intended to gather insights into people’s perceptions and natural attitudes towards start-ups. The process is ongoing and a deadline has not been set yet,” Nissanka added.
“Additionally, we aim to understand the land requirements for industries. This land survey is not limited to start-ups as existing industries can also participate. While it does not guarantee the provision of land, the survey will help identify the national land needs of industries.”
Expanding on the initiative, Nissanka stated that the IDB would review all inquiries. The land requirement survey specifically seeks to assess how much land should be made available immediately for industrial use.
“Firstly, we need to analyse the viability of these industries. The land survey alone cannot determine this. We have a network of around 25 offices and nearly 150 officials spread across the country. Depending on the area, the surveys can be distributed and analysed to evaluate capacities.”
He added that based on the proposals received under the survey, an action plan would be formulated to allocate land to viable business proposals.
Nissanka further noted that the IDB planned to prioritise industries in areas such as the electrical, electronic, and mechanical sectors, given that this could be made possible in the current context.
“The action plan will be implemented once data collection is complete. While we cannot guarantee land allocation for all applicants; each proposal will be reviewed to ensure it is economically viable for the country. It is critical to identify individuals who already have well-thought-out ideas for industries.”
He highlighted the pragmatic approach of engaging with those who already possessed industrial ideas as this approach made it more feasible to turn such concepts into industries.
“We believe it is more feasible to get the ideas of those interested, as this suggests that they have thought over their ideas for some time.”
According to Nissanka, the IDB will take necessary actions based on the survey responses. As the IDB is still unable to determine the volume of inquiries, the action plan will depend on the scale of the responses.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s economy is on a growth path with an expansion in the overall economy creating business/investment opportunities. The Sri Lankan government is currently engaged in multiple programmes to attract more foreign investors to the country. The country’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean, the many trade agreements as well as trade concessions enjoyed with other countries and the incentive schemes presented by the local authorities have all helped boost Sri Lanka’s image as an emerging business destination in the South Asian region. The latest move by the IDB to present a plan to allocate lands for viable business proposals would further attract foreign businesses/investors to Sri Lanka given the increasing land value in the country. With Sri Lanka working towards becoming a hub in the South Asian region, the expanding business/investment opportunities in the country presents many lucrative opportunities for foreign businesses/investors. Given the growth and business potential in Sri Lanka in-line with the overall economic expansion, foreign businesses/investors could confidently explore the expanding opportunities in the country while also looking at expanding operations through the formation of collaborations with local businesses.
Article Code : | VBS/AT/20241226/Z_3 |