$500m sovereign bond issue: Govt gains significant victory - Navin

by Lalin Fernandopulle

The Government gained a significant victory on the US$ 500 million sovereign bond issue which was oversubscribed twice than what was expected and this achievement casts aside all negative and petty minded political thinking of those who opposed raising funds, said Investment Promotion Minister Navin Dissanayake.

He was speaking on the achievements of the Board of Investment (BOI) for the first six months of this year at the WTC on Thursday.

The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow during the period was US$ 264 million which surpasses last year's figure for the corresponding period of US$ 240 million. The Minister said despite the negative opinion about the country and adverse publicity carried out among the international community to achieve over 6 percent the GDP growth rate is a significant achievement.

Inflation and high interest rates have posed serious challenges to the economy but the government has been able to achieve a stable economic growth rate since last year.

Around 58 projects have commenced commercial operations under the Nippayum Sri Lanka 300 enterprise development program launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2006.

Of the projects, 255 have been approved while agreements have been signed for 130 projects.

The enterprise development program has helped the development of the rural sector with employment offered to youth.

The factory program was launched with the objective of taking development which has been concentrated in Colombo and Gampaha districts to the rural areas. The small and medium scale enterprises are the beneficiaries of the program.

The BOI plans to set up 12 export development zones focusing on township development next year and is also looking at new concepts to create industrial economic clusters. The new zones will specialise in industries such as chemicals in Puttalam and gems and jewellery at Pelmadulla, Ratnapura. A new industrial zone will be set up at Horana.

The BOI is looking at attracting investment under public private partnership schemes. The private public partnership schemes have attracted much interest from overseas companies specialising in infrastructure development.