Very little development has been done by the former government to develop the North accused former President Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Yalpanam and Founder Chairman - Jaffna International Trade Fair, K. Pooranachandran.
Speaking to Daily News Business at the launch of 10th Jaffna International Trade Fair, which will be held in January in Jaffna he said that only major notable development was the re constructing of the roadways and recreating the Colombo Jaffna railway line. (During the Mahinda Rajapaksa government.)
He said that the much talked about Achchuveli Economic Zone too is a major disaster as there are only five factories in it making it the smallest zone in the island. He said that one of the main reasons for this is that the lands in it were expensive and also no infrastructure is provided by the government.
If an investor wants to build a factory he has to pay large amounts to obtain land and then reinvest for this own electricity and water facilities. In contrast other BOI zones offer these facilities when an investor sets up a factory.
An entrepreneur himself Pooranachandran said that the red tape too is very high. “I invested Rs. 5 million to build a bottle water plant three years ago but to date I have not got final approval as authorities come up with various point to discourage investors like us.”
Though there is a Board of Investment office in Jaffna there services are not up to standard since there is no major FDI to the region. The 10th edition of JITF is to take place from January 25 – 27, 2019 attracting over 60,000 visitors each year, the event will have over 2,500 products on discount with entertainment and opportunities for all age groups. For the first time Chinese companies too would participate.
Chairman CCIY, V.K. Vignesh recalled that when they started the event in 2002 they faced tremendous hardships since the goods transported to the exhibition had to go through over 10 check points manned by both the Sri Lanka Army and LTTE.
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