Published in the Daily News
Sri Lanka treats investors as the most welcome partners and offers strong fundamentals for investing together with regulatory support, investment protection, investment incentive framework and everything that an investor is looking for in a country.
These comments were made by Ambassador for Sri Lanka in Brussels, Luxembourg and the Mission to EU Grace Asirwatham, in her opening address at a session focused on ‘Investment from the European Union’ held during the SL Investor forum concluded recently.
This session was organized by the BOI in close collaboration with the European Chamber of Commerce.
“Needless to say the European Union representing 27 countries as a regional block is of paramount importance to Sri Lanka, for economic development”.
In his Keynote address Thorsten Bagfrede, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the EU to Sri Lanka and Maldives highlighted the European Union’s close partnership with Sri Lanka, and the benefits of the country’s open economy policy which is a key factor in bringing both economies together. He also emphasized the importance of policy consistency and unhindered trade, mentioning that the EU is still the biggest market in the world and one of Sri Lanka’s top export destinations.
In conclusion Bagfrede focused on the importance of the green economy which is a priority for the EU and invited investors to participate in this initiative.
Executive Director, Verite Research (Pvt) Ltd Dr. Nishan de Mel also made a presentation on the Macro-Economic outlook and investment opportunities in Sri Lanka. His presentation was focused on efficient management of Debt Sustainability in Sri Lanka. The final event of the breakout session was a lively panel discussion moderated by John Wilson, Director and In-House Legal Counsel from the EU Chamber of Commerce in Sri Lanka, with four leading European Investors representing priority markets. Omega Line a subsidiary of Calzedonia represented by Felix Fernando, Managing Director, Melis Kurtylmaz, CEO, Decathlon France, Fred Vandemarliere, Chairman of United Tobacco Processing subsidiary of J Cortes the world renowned suppliers of Cigars and Suresan Arunachalam, Director / COO of Global Sports Lanka (Pvt) Ltd were the panelists.
They provided key insights to operating in and doing business from Sri Lanka and elaborated on their success stories in investing in Sri Lanka, as well as expanding and making re-investments in the country.
Logistical advantages, high quality production ethics, a good level of technical know-how and compliance, and educated workforce at relatively low wages were key strengths echoed by the panelists.