Lanka's economic growth since 2009, impressive - Ambassador
Wickramasuriya
Safety, political stability and business-friendly policies are the
essential ingredients business savvy investors look for when considering
opportunities in foreign markets and that is exactly what they would
find in Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the United States Jaliya
Wickramasuriya said.
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Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya delivers the keynote address at
the 2013 Frontier South Asia Investor Conference in New York. |
Delivering the keynote speech at the 2013 Frontier South Asia
Investor Conference in New York City last Tuesday, Ambassador
Wickramasuriya told an audience of US investment professionals that Sri
Lanka has achieved an impressive economic growth averaging 7.5 percent
since 2009.
The conference was organised by Auerbach Grayson, the largest US
global brokerage group specialising in frontier markets covering 129
countries.
Expounding on Sri Lanka's strong economic fundamentals, he drew the
audience's attention to Sri Lanka's remarkable progress, especially with
the dawn of peace in 2009.
"In terms of the perceptions on the business environment of Sri
Lanka, what is important are the independent international indexes which
feature Sri Lanka's continuous improvements on the business environment,
good governance and competitiveness", he said.
Ambassador Wickramasuriya also shared some of the recent ratings that
Sri Lanka has obtained in independent indexes with the audience.
"The UNDP-compiled Human Development Index ranks Sri Lanka among the
highest in the South Asian region, ranking at 97 out of 187 countries.
As per the Doing Business Index of the World Bank and the IMF, Sri Lanka
has ranked highest in the region at 81 in 2013, up from 89 in 2012.
It should be noted that Sri Lanka is the highest ranking country in
South Asia and is the only country in the region to improve its ranking
for 2013," he said.
"In other internationally comparable indicators such as Index of
Economic Freedom by the US-based Heritage Foundation, Sri Lanka ranked
81 in 2013 compared to 111 in 2009", he said.
The two-day conference was a collaborative effort of Aurebach
Grayson, City Bank of Bangladesh, First Capital of Pakistan and TKS
Securities of Sri Lanka.
The large and representative gathering included US fund managers,
investment professionals and corporate representatives from South Asia.
Dialog Axiata PLC and Seylan Bank PLC represented the Colombo Stock
Exchange at the conference. |
