16 July 2018 10:09 am
Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BOI) yesterday said it is discussing four projects worth over US $ 16 billion with Singapore, as the country gears up to reap benefits of the recent Free Trade Agreement with the city state.
The largest among these projects is an export-oriented oil refinery valued at US $14.8 billion in Hambantota. The second is a steel manufacturing plant in Trincomalee with a US $1 billion investment.
The other two projects will be in Hambantota—a US$200 million sugar refinery and a US$50 million flour mill, both for local and export markets.
According to the BOI, these will be the first projects to realize under the Sri Lanka-Singapore FTA that was implemented on May 1, 2018.
“These proposals are being evaluated and will be implemented as soon as land is identified,” the BOI said.
Large Singaporean firms like Shin Kwan Group and Prima Group made investments during the early years of Sri Lanka’s open economy.
But, while Singapore’s outward foreign direct investment (FDI) skyrocketed over the past two decades, Sri Lanka’s portion trickled downwards.
“The FTA is expected to place Sri Lanka firmly on Singapore’s investment map, and the serious interest is an indication of a massive upswing currently underway,” the BOI said.
Last week, Sri Lanka held a highly successful investment forum in Singapore targeting Singaporean companies that are encouraged by the FTA.
The forum was attended by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama and officials of the BOI, Sri Lanka Customs and MODSIT.
The Singapore delegation was headed by Senior Minister S. Iswaran.
Presentations were also made by two recent Singapore entrants to Sri Lanka in the food and beverage sector, which highlighted the strong investor facilitation now being offered by the BOI and the high living standards including housing, healthcare and education facilities, which make it easy for job creating investors and their families to be based in Sri Lanka.