 AN IDEAL INVESTMENT DESTINATION |
Be it travel, leisure, adventure, and the possibility to conduct any sort of business -where else could you find such a diverse life style other than in Sri Lanka?. The potential here is so great that the moment foreign investors land in this beautiful island they discover that Sri Lanka is an ideal travel, business or investment destination.
It is a true fact that this country has an on-going war and there had been many terrorist attacks in key cities and financial institutions. But, none of the tourists had got killed or injured during the 20-year long war. What may happen, the smiling faces of the people and the hospitality of the island nation will continue to be the greatest asset of the country. The war obviously cannot take everything away.
The country continues to promote foreign direct investment vigorously and a special unit has formed for this purpose, the Board of Investment (BOI).
Its principal activity is to function as a central factitious point for investors. The objective is to enable foreign investors who are interested in doing business in Sri Lanka, to facilitate them in every way in establishing an investment. It is to act as a one-stop shop most of the time. Basically foreign investors could come here, find out every thing about the opportunities for investment, and more importantly, the facilities and incentives for the foreign investment. If the investors could meet the requirements outlined by the BOI, they would get BOI approval for the project to start. The most significant part of the BOI approval, are the tax and physical incentives that are relevant.
Why should investors come to Sri Lanka? It is because the country's 'business start-up' system is free of all complications. In a very simple straightforward style, one could set up operations here very quickly.
|
Unlike India, Sri Lanka has one central government,
where it is not very complex to operate, since
it is a regional federal structure and one does
not have to thread their way. The other advantage
is that the country is very favourable in terms
of foreign investment. Lots of countries had very
complex rules. But, Sri Lanka is very uncomplicated
and one can have a 100% owned foreign company.
One does not have to have a joint venture partner,
which is an advantage. It is very difficult to
have a 100% owned foreign company in the South
Asian region or anywhere else.
Sri Lanka wants to achieve what Singapore has
achieved. Singapore like Sri Lanka is a very small
and compact uncomplicated country. Sri Lanka's
geographical location is such that any one can
fly to Asia, Africa, Europe, the US or Australia
through a very convenient air route. The other
basic advantage is that Sri Lanka has an educated
population who is experienced, quick to learn
and has very good hand skills.
Over and above what Sri Lanka offers as its traditional
benefit is relatively inexpensive labour. In the
advanced western countries one cannot find people
dedicated to work in labour intensive operations,
since this is a kind of skill that has evaporated.
Sri Lanka has proved to be a good place to manufacture
and export. As long as one is talking about products
that are not particularly heavy and bulky, and
can also move around the globe, Sri Lanka is a
good location.
In five years time, the country expects to see
a larger number of ventures; primarily serving
export markets and use Sri Lanka as a base for
exports. That will bring prosperity to the whole
of South Asia.
Located between the South and the west in the
tip of south Asia and not really far away from
East Asia, Sri Lanka is undoubtedly an ideal location
to operate big international business. Come here
and discover it. Sri Lanka - a land like no other.
|
