News
Visiting US delegation to identify potential areas for investment
View(s):By Damith Wickramasekera
A 17- member US investment delegation visiting Colombo will undertake field visits in the next two days to identify potential areas for investment in the country.
These will include visits to areas such as Aurgam Bay, Trincomalee, and Colombo Port City, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism Vijitha Herath said.
He said that the government aim is to dispel US concerns over Sri Lanka policies toward foreign direct investment (FDI), which a recently released report by the US State Department said was “inconsistent.”
The report released this week said the Board of Investment (BOI), the principal investment promotion agency, struggles to function as a “one-stop shop” due to fragmented authority across multiple government departments, creating lengthy approval processes that frustrate potential investors, and identified unnecessary regulations, legal uncertainty, and poor bureaucratic responsiveness as key impediments.
“We want to listen to their observations and see what changes can be done at this end so as to encourage US investments in the country. This is the reason the field visits have been arranged so the delegates can see for themselves the available infrastructure and other facilities including the skilled human resource,” he said.
He said that the areas which the US would be encouraged to invest in include IT, LNG, power and energy, petroleum and agriculture.
The minister said that foreign investors should not be afraid to invest in Sri Lanka, and stronger legislation to protect investors and expedite the process will be presented to parliament in the near future.
Members of the delegation also met with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Trade Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe.
Prior to visiting Sri Lanka, the US delegates visited India where they met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed ways to strengthen the strategic partnership between India and the US.
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