Private sector should woo Sri Lankan expats

by Surekha Galagoda

There are over one million Sri Lankan expatriates and of this over 100,000 are professionals who are very strong in their communities and are willing to support Sri Lanka, but there is no mechanism for these people to return and support the country said immigration specialist and lawyer Susantha Katugampala.

The government can only create the infrastructure and this is being done.

Katugampala said that now is the time for private companies and banks to tap this market.

If you start today the results will come next year and we as lawyers living overseas for several years can help in this endeavour.

He said that at present $ 2bln worth of direct foreign remittances come from Sri Lankan expatriates which is a substantial amount and is above the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attracted by the country.This assists Sri Lanka in the short-term but for long-term development Sri Lanka should attract more FDI and we believe that Sri Lankan expatriates can contribute to this effort.

At the November 2009 Expatriate Forum the government invited expatriates to return. Last December many expatriates who visited Sri Lanka were of the view that the government has taken the initiative to develop infrastructure.

The time is now right for the corporate sector to work with the expatriate community. The Sri Lankan share market is growing but the volume is small compared to the Singapore or London stock exchanges. Therefore there is ample opportunity for Sri Lankan expatriates to invest in listed companies because when it is a public listed company all compliances are to international standards.

In addition there are many private sector projects especially in hotel development where we could attract private equity. It is a sector that will continue to grow by 2015. Sri Lanka needs to have an additional 30,000 rooms. It is a target that can be achieved.

Growth in the hospitality trade is inevitable. In addition the banking sector has a lot of products. The Treasury and Central Bank have introduced many new products which can be sold by commercial banks to expatriates.