15 per cent FDIs in real estate in Sri Lanka
While there is tremendous development taking place in the real estate sector in Sri Lanka, it has been estimated that almost 15 per cent of the foreign direct investments (FDIs) is made on real estate, a top official in the industry reiterated.
Making this comment, Indocean Developers (Pvt) Ltd Director, Pradeep Moraes receiving Sri Lanka’s first ‘Real Estate Personality of the Year’ award at the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Sri Lanka held at Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo on Thursday, said: “Foreign investors have shown confidence in Sri Lanka whereas the numbers have increased in terms of FDIs.”
Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, Patali Champika Ranawaka, speaking as Chief Guest, said his ministry has developed a national physical plan to further enhance local and international connectivity through the Colombo – Trincomalee economic corridor. Trincomalee will open Sri Lanka to India, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar and other Asian countries through the Bay of Bengal while Colombo will open up to the West, West Asian markets and East Africa.
“We have also drawn up the plan to develop the connectivity from Galle to Hambantota to another economic corridor. We have also identified strategically important cities such as Kandy, Anuradhapura, Jaffna and the work has already commenced,” noted Mr. Ranawaka. Sri Lanka is now in a position to take advantage of the developing economy and evolving industries to elevate the country to new heights, he added.
PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards, Founder and Managing Director, Terry Blackburn at the event stated that Sri Lanka has still a long way to go before catching up with neighbouring markets in Southeast Asia, but the progress in the last five years has nevertheless been remarkable. “Developers have much to be proud of in how they are transforming the country and the lives of many Sri Lankan people,” he added.
23 awards were presented at the Asia Property Awards held in Colombo. Some of the notable awards are, ‘ Best Developer’- Prime Group, ‘ Best Boutique Developer’ - Capital TRUST Residencies, ‘ Special Recognition in CSR’ – Blue Ocean Group of Companies, ‘ Special Recognition in Sustainable Development’ - Maga Engineering ( Pvt) Ltd, ‘ Best Condo Development’ – Altair by Indocean Developers ( Pvt) Ltd, ‘ Best Housing Development’ – Ariyana Resort Apartments and ‘ Best Green Development’ – Clearpoint Residencies.
The Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development won the ‘Special Recognition for Public Facility’ award for the Beira Lake intervention area development plan while the Urban Development Authority won the same for the urban regeneration project.