'Mega projects suspension may impact FDI inflow'
By Sanjeevi Jayasuriya
The business community has raised concern over the government’s
decision to delay on-going foreign-funded mega investment projects, as
it may have an adverse impact on investor confidence and FDI inflow.
When Sunday Observer Business contacted the Ceylon Chamber of
Commerce on this issue, an official said that having a prudent and
transparent mechanism with a consistent policy framework is important
for Sri Lanka to move forward.
The official said that he believes that Sri Lanka needs to adopt an
export-oriented private sector-lead development strategy driven through
FDIs to achieve developmental goals.
"We as a Chamber have no preference or discrimination against any
particular country or investor.
We also believe that such FDI and other economic transactions should
flow in a transparent manner meeting the priorities of Sri Lanka," he
said. Invariably, compliance with the laws of the land, environmental
and economic feasibility and prioritisation in line with Sri Lanka's
development goals become essential prerequisites of any such investment.
There is criticism among a cross-section of society, that some of the
investment projects that were launched in the past did not meet some or
most of such criteria and information pertaining to the projects were
not available or known to many."
As a Chamber, we are not privy to the detailed information of the
projects and, therefore, it is not possible for us to take any position,
with regard to the projects," the official said. It is upto the project
proponents and the authorities to be transparent, expeditiously
deliberate on the economic, environmental and other requisite
information and prudently review the projects addressing shortcomings,
if any and move forward, clearing any doubts.
The system should be streamlined to provide transparency and
viability of such projects, before launch, moving away from
accommodating unsolicited bids and accepting them without due diligence.
"We are confident that creating such a transparent and prudent mechanism
or system, under a stable policy framework would attract the much needed
FDI and investor confidence, for Sri Lanka to achieve its developmental
goals. |