Foreign company registrations in Sri Lanka rise in 1H2025
Sri Lanka is estimated to have recorded a sharp rise in foreign and joint-venture (JV) company registrations in the first half of 2025, reflecting the country’s rebound in investment inflows and project approvals, despite the absence of official confirmation from the Department of the Registrar of Companies (ROC).
Efforts to obtain precise data from the ROC—including formal requests, contacting high officials and follow-up emails, have gone unanswered.
The company registrations are being done under Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Private Limited Company, Public Limited Company and Company Limited Guarantee, an official of the Finance Ministry said.
However he noted that he cannot comment on the breakdown of a particular category and the entrepreneurs setting up of new companies.
“While actual ROC records remain inaccessible, the surge in FDI and BOI approvals strongly indicates a parallel rise in foreign company incorporations and partnerships,” a senior investment analyst told The Sunday Times Business.
“It’s not unusual for registration activity to track closely with new project approvals, particularly in a growth year like 2025,” he pointed out.
According to Board of Investment (BOI) data, realised FDI more than doubled between January and June 2025, reaching approximately US $507 million compared to US $252 million in the same period last year—a 101 per cent increase.
The BOI also reported approving 57 new projects in the first six months of this year, up from around 48 approvals in 1H 2024.
Using these trends as a substitution, foreign-only company registrations are estimated to have grown roughly to about 55–80 in the first half of 2025 from 35–50 in the first half of 2024, official provisional data showed.
Joint-venture registrations—where both foreign and local shareholders are involved—are similarly estimated to have increased to 30–45 in 1 H 2025 from about 20–30 over the same period last year. .
Official mathematical models suggests total foreign/JV company registrations may have climbed to 85–115 this year, from an estimated 55–80 last year.
Sectorally much of the new investment activity is believed to be in renewable energy, manufacturing, and export-oriented services, areas that have dominated BOI approvals in recent quarters. These estimates are provisional figures only and the ROC has yet to release its half-year registration data for 2024 and 2025.
If the current trend holds, 2025 could mark one of the strongest years in recent memory for foreign and JV company incorporation in Sri Lanka, signalling renewed investor confidence following the country’s economic stabilisation efforts.
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