Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama yesterday encouraged investors to invest in Sri Lanka now and take advantage of this emerging gateway to South Asia, Europe and Africa.
“Sri Lanka is truly the new hub in the Indian Ocean – and we are ready to welcome you. We are keen to find international partners who can work with our private sector to build on our strengths, reach global markets, and bring in technology and know-how,” he said.
Sri Lanka offers investors a unique opportunity from which to grow business in the region. In Sri Lanka the investors will discover a stable macroeconomic climate, a fantastic geographic location, a pleasant living environment, business partners that value good business practices, and a highly trainable workforce, he told the Sri Lanka Investment and Business Conclave 2019 at the Shangri-La Hotel yesterday. Over 80 foreign delegates from 22 countries participated.
The Ministry officials and the Board of Investment (BOI) will support and facilitate the projects, with the able guidance from industry bodies like the Ceylon Chamber, and the support from embassies overseas.
The Board of Investment now has several investor facilitation mechanisms and single window approvals mechanisms.
He said investors should not get distracted by domestic politics, and what they read in the news. “Sri Lanka has its fair share of challenges and political issues, just like any democracy and any emerging market. Two things remain certain and remain clear throughout – one: is the ample business opportunities that are available in Sri Lanka, and two: is the commitment of the Government to welcome foreign investors and help them succeed in the island.”
“We are probably one of the very few countries in the world that can claim this.” Through Sri Lanka, investors will have access to a large market-of nearly 3.5 billion people on preferential terms -beyond our domestic market. “We already have preferential access to a market of 1 billion plus, through our FTA with India, which will soon be expanded to a comprehensive agreement covering services and investment. With our proximity to the fast-growing South Indian states, you will have easier access to these markets from Colombo than even from some parts of India itself.”
“We already have an FTA with Pakistan. We are negotiating a comprehensive FTA with China, and FTAs with Thailand and Bangladesh. We also have preferential access to the European Union through the GSP Plus trade concessions on over 6,000 tariff lines, and we have GSP access to the USA. Together, Sri Lanka’s opportunity is no longer just the 20 million domestic markets, but a massive 3.5 billion global market.”
Sri Lanka has also signed a Free Trade Agreement with Singapore, which goes beyond goods, to include services, investment, e-commerce, government procurement, telecommunications, financial services, and economic cooperation.
“These are part of a comprehensive trade policy reform programme. The Government has removed protectionist para-tariffs on over 1,200 items with the rest slated for removal by 2020. We have introduced a trade remedies unit, a trade information portal, and soon an ‘Electronic Single Window’ that will link together dozens of state agencies dealing with international trade,” the Minister added.
The second aspect that makes the ‘Sri Lanka Opportunity’ compelling, is that Sri Lanka is perhaps the best place to take advantage of this growing market in the region with a fantastic geographic location, and an efficient port and airport with access to major air and sea routes.
Through the new Colombo International Financial City and Port City projects, Sri Lanka is creating a unique operating environment with special laws favourable for foreign business and living. In the most recent World Bank Doing Business Index, Sri Lanka jumped 11 places, in recognition of the reforms to cut the number of days and number of procedures to register new businesses and find and register property.
Samarawickrama said, “Our industrial energy tariffs are very competitive and will come down further over the next 3 years with the commissioning of new LNG power plants. Our water supply and air quality is among the cleanest in the region.We have a widespread road network, with several new expressways completed or nearing completion. Commercial land availability is being enhanced and made more transparent, with new projects to digitize land titling. As a foreign investor, you can obtain land on lease for up to 99 years.
Sri Lanka is also getting new industrial zones for foreign investments. Two have already been set up with easy access from the expressways. The Hambantota Logistics and Industrial Zone is also being developed.
The third aspect that makes the ‘Sri Lanka Opportunity’ compelling is that Sri Lanka has a track record in being successful in the harder parts of the value chain in several sectors. “In garments, we manufacture lingerie, which is the most complex. We also manufacture high-performance athletic wear and sports shoe uppers. In rubber, we produce surgical and industrial gloves and industrial tyres. In electronics, we make impact sensors for airbags and seatbelts with a ‘one part per million’ quality standard. In tea and spices we manufacture flavour extracts for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. In ship and boatbuilding, we construct complex cable-laying vessels and high-quality leisure crafts. And in IT, we are not a simple BPO destination; we provide innovative software solutions to global clients like eBay, Uber, Emirates, and the London Stock Exchange. Clearly, Sri Lanka isn’t your average South Asian country,” he added.
“What is good for Sri Lanka is also good for Unilever Sri Lanka”- Carl Cruz
Resilient nation; Competitive advantage of Sri Lanka
Indunil Hewage
Sri Lanka continues to impress with its resilience despite the negative impact of 30 -year long war as well as the more recent tragedy of Easter Sunday attacks. “Setbacks didn’t cripple this nations’ warm hospitable people, but instead provided more opportunities to bounce back and rebuild,” Carl Cruz- Chairman, Unilever Sri Lanka told the Conclave 2019 in Colombo yesterday.
“I guess the story of growth in many ways is also the story of change .From the humble beginning of telegram and smart phones, he said technology has offered numerous opportunities for many people thereby creating more avenues and prosperity .This is evident in the Sri Lanka in comparison to other markets,” said Cruz who was the key note speaker of the 4th edition of Sri Lanka Investment Business Conclave 2019 at the Shangri-La hotel yesterday. The Conclave was organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
In certain markets around the world people don’t have the benefit of having safe drinking water. However, In Sri Lanka more than 90 % of the population has access to safe drinking water. Also, Sri Lanka’s GDP in the Western Province is equivalent to that of Thailand. Besides, education and medical and other facilities are provided to the public free of charge. Again from this lens, the country has performed very well, Cruz said explaining the experiences of the Unilever as an investor in Sri Lanka.
He noted that the country has also seen the rise of local companies, which contribute heavily to the economy by diversifying and expanding into new markets.
He said from a consumer angle, Sri Lankan consumers are evolving at a very fast phase as they’re definitely connected, digitally adaptable and have easy access to information. “We at Unilever believe that the global and local consumer is already here in this island.” Unilever Sri Lanka will strive to impact the lives of Sri Lankan consumers with purposeful products which add vitality to lives of many Sri Lankans and continuously advocate for the good for the country, said.
“Today technology and new media has changed the way we live and the way we do businesses and the way we connect with our consumers. Nowadays the consumers are their own marketers. Successful businesses of the future will act in a responsible way on environmental issues and will do more good for our planet. For us it is abundantly clear that businesses will be better businesses by following these practices. And around the world, people are opting for ethical sustainable brands and citizens are taking to the streets and social media to praise good behavior or punish the bad behavior of corporate entities.”
Speaking further he said there are spaces within the country and those need a bit of change, which include increasing the competitiveness among the businesses to open up more opportunities, fostering the capability of workforce.
“In addition, we need to continuously look at area of Ease of Doing Business as we need more FDI to boost the local economy,” he said.
Moreover, he said Unilever has been in operation Sri Lanka for the last 81 years. We will operate in the Sri Lankan market for the long haul as we believe what is good for Sri Lanka is also good for Unilever Sri Lanka,” Cruz said.
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