Sri Lanka as the next regional Investment Centre… is it time to take off?

We never thought we could win the war, but we did. We never thought we could build a freeway, but now Sri Lankan companies are building them. We don’t think we could ever compete with Singapore and Dubai for investments, but maybe we should. The opportunity proposed is not of becoming the “financial centre” of South Asia. It’s far more modest. It’s to position Sri Lanka as the “investment centre” for South Asia. Sri Lanka now has the opportunity to platform a regional economy of over $2.6 trillion GDP. If we reach just 1% of Singapore’s assets under management (AUM), we could see $17 billion channeled through our banking system and earn fees on that. First, it’s important to point out that capital account and currency convertibility restrictions need not be relaxed to exploit this opportunity. The structures and solutions can be leveraged through the foreign investment promoting BOI and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). A set of global circumstances holds this lucrative opportunity wide open. Sri Lanka is also primed to take on this challenge, far more than any other country in the region. Read More: Echelon.lk