Sri Lanka seeks fresh Japanese investment via export corridor targeting Indian market

Sri Lanka is seeking to revive Japanese manufacturing investment through a proposed export-industrial corridor aimed at positioning the island as a regional production hub for Indian and other export markets, officials said after a high-level Japanese delegation met President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday. 

Talks at the Presidential Secretariat focused on strengthening economic cooperation and advancing plans for the Sri Lanka–Japan export-industrial corridor, an initiative expected to attract export-oriented Japanese manufacturers and deepen bilateral trade ties.

The meeting followed Dissanayake’s official visit to Japan last September, when the two sides signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on the proposed corridor.  Officials noted renewed interest among the Japanese government and business community in Sri Lanka after nearly a decade, expressing optimism that the corridor could generate significant gains in exports, industrial trade and investment while enhancing Sri Lanka’s role as a regional manufacturing and export hub.

The Japanese delegation included Takehiko Matsuo, Vice Minister for International Affairs at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Ambassador Akio Isomata, and Fumihiko Kobayashi, Chairman of the Japan–Sri Lanka Business Co-operation Committee, alongside senior representatives from METI, JETRO, JICA and major Japanese trading houses.

Sri Lankan officials present included Senior Economic Advisor to the President Duminda Hulangamuwa, Trade Ministry Secretary K.A. Vimalenthirarajah, and Export Development Board Chairman and CEO Mangala Wijesinghe.