Sri Lanka lobbies for FDIs in apparel

Sri Lanka continues to lobby for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) mainly from the apparel and manufacturing sectors and agriculture-based companies.

Board of Investment (BOI) Director General Sanjaya Mohottala told the Business Times on Tuesday that they were currently having several ongoing discussions with prospective investors in the apparel and manufacturing sectors.

Sri Lanka’s apparel industry has been particularly working on obtaining some of the global giants in textile manufacturing to set up business in the country at the future dedicated Eravur textile manufacturing park. Most supply chains faced issues following the US sanctions on China and now with coronavirus that restricted supply of goods from there.

Moreover, investors have also expressed willingness to expand their businesses in line with the existing demand for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), he said.

He pointed out that Sri Lanka had been performing well during the first quarter of this year. Sri Lanka last year was able to generate FDI amounting to US$1,188.74 million.

In the agriculture sector they were discussing on how to obtain value addition for products grown in Sri Lanka, he said.

“COVID-19 is creating a situation to capitalise on the supply chains” and in this respect he noted they needed to build the right foundation but the strategic thrust continues to be the same. “What we should do is be able to look at the opportunities.”

Mr. Mohottala also noted that at the BOI they were looking at several ways to promote the country and they were currently trying to capitalise on the geopolitical situation as well.

In this respect, they were looking at ways and means of attracting some of the regional and global supply chains; engage those in line with the future type of economy that will be a knowledge-based economy; and helping existing companies to expand, he said.

(SD)