Information Desk to educate foreign investors:

CHOGM will woo unprecedented investments

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said the Ministry will make use of the opportunity of hosting CHOGM in Sri Lanka to bring unprecedented investment opportunities to the country.

The Ministry has already set up an Investor Centre aiming at CHOGM which would function as an information desk to educate foreign investors visiting Sri Lanka along with Commonwealth delegations.

The investor centre had received 31 inquiries relating to 12 investment sectors such as tourism, apparel, housing, assembling automobiles, hospitals, gem and jewellery, oil projects, power plants, steel pipe industry, interior décor, trading in food items and cosmetics and other types of manufacturing from June 14 to July 9, the Minister told the Sunday Observer yesterday.

Minister Abeywardena said 53 member states of the Commonwealth had already confirmed their participation. Therefore, CHOGM would be the ideal forum for Sri Lanka to project the true situation in the country and promote investment opportunities.

Most of the host states of CHOGM have gained many economic benefits. Australia as the host state of CHOGM 2011 had attracted US$ 10 billion in investments within four years.

“We are now educating Ministry officials on how to conduct their investment promotion campaign aiming at CHOGM.

The Ministry has called upon foreign embassies to send background information regarding their investors visiting Sri Lanka with Commonwealth delegates.

Nearly 800 foreign media personnel are due in Sri Lanka to cover this event. We have also laid emphasis on how to solicit their contribution to promote the country’s image globally.”

The Ministry has identified the type of investments which need to be brought into the country immediately. We hope to attract investments in tourism, power, agriculture, industrial and mixed development in the IT sector. The Ministry will provide facilities for investors to begin their ventures, he said.

The Minister said if the country is to continue the 8 percent economic growth, it needs at least 35 percent GDP investments.

If we do our best, only 8 percent of the investments can be covered locally while the remaining 27 percent has to be sought as foreign direct investment (FDIs).

The Ministry would mainly target CHOGM to attract the FDIs, he said.