Swiss investor seeks partners

Montanstahl AG, a Swiss-based stainless steel shapes manufacturer, is exploring the possibility of setting up a 'green-field' project in Sri Lanka, which will be a 100 percent export-oriented firm.

Vice President, Research and Development of the family based firm, Wolfgang Stumm, was in Sri Lanka last week to look for partners and a location to set up the plant, which if implemented, will be a BOI project.

Stumm met several potential partners at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce premises in Colombo on Tuesday evening.

Representatives from CCC member firms such as, Dipped Products PLC, United Tractors and Equipment (Pvt) Limited, Serendib Stock Brokers, Entrust Wealth Management and Mascons (Pvt) Limited were present.

Stumm said Sri Lanka is one out of the few Asian countries short-listed to set up the proposed special steel shapes plant. He said that if Montanstahl AG obtains the necessary land space, right incentives and a solid partner, the project will be set up soon and will generate about 100 to 150 employment opportunities.

If the project goes ahead, it will be the first manufacturing facility of the Montanstahl AG in the Asian region, which will feed the European and Asian markets, such as Japan, Korea and India.

"We want to be competitive in the Asian market and want to compete with Japan," Stumm said.

The firm has manufacturing facilities in Germany and USA, while an effort to set up a plant in Singapore during 2013 was abandoned owing to the high cost involved in setting up a manufacturing plant in that country.

Stumm was due to leave the country yesterday.

The latest match-making effort is a part of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce's ongoing program to help Sri Lanka attract high calibre international investors to the country.