Confab to attract US investors

A second annual conference to attract U.S. investor to Sri Lanka will be held in Colombo from October 12 to 14 giving business executives a chance to meet with government officials to discuss the possibilities of expanding U.S. businesses in Sri Lanka.

The conference is organised by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington, D.C. and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Embassy in Colombo and the Sri Lanka Trade Ministry.

"Our first conference last year gave people a good look at Sri Lanka, and the potential for businesses there," said Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka's ambassador to the United States. "Now some of those businesses are planning to begin operations in Sri Lanka. We want to make sure that business people know the advantages of investing here."

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, during a visit to the United Nations last week, met with U.S. investors during a business development luncheon.

The President met with each of the 150 luncheon guests, and External Affairs Minister Prof G.L. Peiris, described the advantages that U.S. companies enjoy by investing in Sri Lanka.

Those benefits include Sri Lanka's free trade agreements with India and Pakistan that gives U.S. businesses duty-free access to those large markets, as well as relaxed foreign investment regulations to help renew its economy, which grew at nearly eight percent during the first half of 2010.