- Says major investment and export plans already drafted
- About nine new investment zones in pipeline
Hailing the Board of Investment (BOI) celebrating four
decades, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said his Government
together with President Sirisena was preparing for a great leap forward in
investment and exports to catapult Sri Lanka towards stronger growth.
Wickremesinghe, who took part in the BOI 40th Anniversary
celebrations with President Maithripala Sirisena, Development Strategies and
International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama and the latter’s State
Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe at the Katunayake Free Trade Zone recalled how he
had been present at its opening with former President J. R. Jayewardene.
“At the time, our biggest challenge was finding jobs. The
country had just faced an uprising and we understood that government institutions
were insufficient to create the jobs that youth so desperately wanted. That is
why we decided to establish investment zones,” he said.
The Katunayake Export Processing Zone was the first of its
kind in South Asia, the Prime Minister noted, which served as the blueprint for
many other similar ventures in India, China and Vietnam. Unfortunately, the
early advantage of an open economy was lost to Sri Lanka a few years later when
the war began and lucrative investment opportunities drifted to other countries.
“Now we have an even bigger opportunity than we did in 1977.
Now we have a chance to regain all that lost opportunity. This is why we formed
a coalition Government; and we must support President Sirisena so that together
we can implement the economic plan we have drafted for the next three years.”
As many as nine new economic zones are in the pipeline, the
premier said, as part of the Government’s efforts to take development to the
provinces. An investment corridor from Kandy to Wellawaya as well as other
zones up to Paranthan is under discussion, he said. Former President Ranasinghe
Premadasa opened over 200 apparel factories outside the zones, Wickremesinghe
stated, which also pushed forward development, but in the present, advancements
in technology has meant businesses can be established anywhere around the
country.
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