The American Chamber of Commerce (ANCHAM) agreed to further expand investment in Sri Lanka due to the country’s economic transparency, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said. At the same time, the minister said that it was proposed to take necessary measures swiftly towards it.
The minister also points out that the American Chamber of Commerce has hailed the financial disciplines maintained by the country. An opportunity to address the American Chamber of commerce is a privilege for Sri Lanka and, such an opportunity will pave the way for the country to attract more investment to the country, Minister Karunanayake said.
Karunanayake expressed these views after returning from the IMF and WB semi-annual conference held in Washington DC. Minister Karunanayake said that Sri Lanka has become the gateway to Asia due to its business friendly policies and reiterated to the American Chamber of Commerce about the available potential business opportunities in the sectors of infrastructure development, agro processing, health, export base manufacturing and tourism industry.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States of America Prasad Kariyawasam who addressed the American Chamber of Commerce reiterated that business and economic friendly policies as well as strategic geopolitical situation of Sri Lanka and its favorable physical environment have made the island a most suitable country for residence thereby becoming one of the best holiday destinations in the region.
The United States further remain the largest export market for Sri Lanka. The latest bilateral trade value is nearly US$3.3 billion. At the same time, 28% of Sri Lanka’s exports in 2016 have been sent to the United States.The Finance Minister also said that the economic development mechanism of Sri Lanka was given special accolade during the IMF and WB semi-annual conference held in Washington DC.The minister pointed out that he had separate discussions with participating heads of the IMF and WB during the conference. The conference started on April 18 and was concluded on 23.
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake participated in the G-24 summit and, the current economic development progression of Sri Lanka was also discussed at the meeting.Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake who represented Sri Lanka in the G-24Finance Ministers Council was offered the maiden post of Vice President of the G-24 Finance Ministers’ Council. Offering this prestigious position to Sri Lankan Finance Minister is asignificant victory for the country. In addition, the maiden vice president position for the officials of the Finance Minsters Council was offered to Treasury Secretary Dr.R.H.S.Samaratunga. Discussions were also held with Deputy Managing Director of International Monetary Fund Mitsuhiro Furusawa.Minister Karunanayake also held discussions with Vice President of WB Annette Dixon.During the discussions, the World Bank stated that the economic development activities of Sri Lanka have shown significant progress. Dixon further said that WB will always assist Sri Lanka to maintain such economic progress in the future as well. Managing solid waste of Sri Lanka was also discussed in details during this meeting. Accordingly, WB agreed to send a special research team to Sri Lanka in the near future.
On the sidelines of the main conference, Sri Lankan delegation led by Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake had successful discussions with the chairperson of the United States Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen. In addition, the delegation held discussions with the senior officials of the US Treasury.
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