IPZ in Galagedera with Japanese investments

By Ravi Ladduwahetty

The Government plans to establish an Investment Promotion Zone (IPZ) spanning 300 acres in Galagedera in the Central Province, immediately following the estimated completion of the Central Expressway in 2020, with a Japanese consortium of investors having already expressed interest in making high-profile technology-related investments in the zone.
This was disclosed to Ceylon FT yesterday by Leader of the House of Parliament, Kandy District MP and Minister of Highways and Higher Education, Lakshman Kiriella, who added that the proposed investment in the Kandy District was long overdue, having been constantly overlooked when it came to investments.

The Minister also said that Government officials had already conducted relevant discussions with Japanese Government officials, who were very keen over the industrial zone. This could provide thousands of employment investments to the Central Province, which has been long neglected, he said, adding that there has been no IPZ within the Kandy District since the Pallekelle IPZ during the D. B. Wijetunga presidency in the early 1990s.
Strident in these efforts are those of Sri Lanka’s Envoy to Japan, Professor Ganganath Dissanayake, himself a specialist in the arena of Mass Communications and a former Chairman of ITN. Professor Dissanayake also brought in a delegation of Japanese investors to Sri Lanka in the last few days who met with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Kiriella said.

He also said that Japanese investors were very keen on the development of coastal zone tourism in Sri Lanka alongside the development of the industrial zone in up-country Sri Lanka, he said.

“There are indications that there will be a proliferation of high-tech Japanese industries here,” he said, adding that the invitation would be extended to investors from other countries.

He also said that this would usher in much-required technology transfers to Sri Lanka.