Sri Lanka investment forum draws Asian based funds

ECONOMYNEXT – A Sri Lanka investment forum in Singapore has drawn interest from Asian-based investors, where 17 listed companies and 12 stock broking companies made pitches, the Colombo Stock Exchange said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe addressed the forum organized by the CSE and the Sri Lanka – Singapore Business Association which was attended by Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry S Iswaran.

Wickramasinghe said Sri Lanka was doing economic reforms and was making it easier for investors to find land and a recent free trade deal will help investors in the city state.

““We are undertaking many policy initiatives to incentivize direct private investment both foreign and local,” Wickremesinghe was quoted as saying.

“The Singapore-Sri Lanka FTA is part of a broader strategy of looking East to renew our trade relationships.

“While we focus on growing and sustaining our traditional markets of the US and Europe, we have begun to diversify our markets towards Asia and focus on plugging into Asian supply chains.

“This FTA is our first agreement with a South East Asian country – and we envisage this as a first step towards closer integration with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.”

Minister Iswaran had said that the FTA will deepen bilateral ties and strengthen links with South Asia.

“We are already starting to see the benefits of the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement – the positive news surrounding the agreement has led to an uptick in interest from Singapore companies to partner Sri Lankan companies to invest in opportunities both within Sri Lanka, and to use Sri Lanka as a hub to expand into the broader South Asian region.”