RIU investor forum gathers momentum
The Research Intelligence Unit, a Colombo-based research and consultancy with a global presence, is gearing up to host its annual edition of RIU Investor Forum on Thursday May 17 at the Sri Lanka High Commission in London, UK.
RIU hosts these annual events with the aim of promoting and channelling investment into Sri Lanka from among the high net worth individuals (HNI) living overseas while also building strong interest among the investor community based in key global financial hubs, a company media release said.
“A special feature at this years’ event would be the endorsement of the event by Sri Lanka’s minister of Finance, Mangala Samaraweera, whose statement will be read at the event. The keynote address at the event will be made by the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. The event will also include guest speakers who will make presentations on real estate in Sri Lanka as well as London. Among them would be Sri Lankan Architect Nilesh De Silva of KDS, who will make a presentation on trends in design for villas and luxury property in the island,” it said.
Foreign investors have shown confidence towards investing in Sri Lanka as foreign direct investment (FDI) into Sri Lanka has grown to over US$1.63 billion in 2017, doubling the 802 million dollars achieved in the previous year, the release said.
“The island has also in order to facilitate FDI, accelerated investment allowances over and above normal depreciation until companies recover their total fixed investment through its recently approved new Inland Revenue Act while the foreign exchange regime too has been liberalised to improve the investment climate via the new Foreign Exchange Act.”
“The UK is easily the most significant diaspora market for Sri Lanka both in terms of quality and quantity. We look forward to concluding yet another successful event in the UK together with our sponsors and associates,” Roshan Madawela, RIU head was quoted as saying, commenting on the upcoming event. “The UK has over 436,000 UK citizens with Sri Lankan origin and they maintain a regular financial or real estate related presence in their country of origin.”
Altair, the 68- storey luxury residential apartment complex which fronts the Beira Lake in Colombo, Prime Lands (Pvt) Ltd, a leading company in property development and Royal Property Holdings, a building construction firm based in Colombo, Sri Lanka will be the lead sponsors of the event.
Event partners include Lamudi, an international property portal, the Oxford Business Group, a research firm based in the UK, the Big Issue Sri Lanka, a Sri Lankan magazine and Eye-Travel.