By: Staff Writer
Colombo (LNW): Several Indian companies have planned investments in Sri Lanka in the coming years. According to Indian CEOs some big Indian companies operating in the Sri Lankan market include CEAT, Gujarat Glass, Indian Oil Corporation, Neelkamal Plastics, Gujarat Ambuja amob them .
Members of the Sri Lanka India Society comprising Indian CEOs assured Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to promote further Indian investments as the time is ripe for expanding collaboration in several sectors.
This was conveyed when a delegation from the Sri Lanka India Society paid a courtesy call on the Premier to discuss ways and means of expanding bilateral economic ties including trade and investment.
The Prime Minister, pointing out the growth in Government-to-Government development cooperation, thanked the Indian CEOS for their efforts to promote private sector Indian investments.
The business heads underscore the need for some structural changes in Sri Lanka to augment foreign investments, especially when the challenge of costs is so stark, following the drastic depreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee.
The ease of doing business must improve, they underscore, suggesting that a single window regulatory process be put in place to help save costs and time, and give incentive for new investors to come in
Sri Lanka India Society President and Platinum Realty Investments Managing Director Kishore Reddy said there is enormous potential for investments in the agriculture, tourism, information technology, renewable energy, and education sectors.
As Sri Lanka has emerged out of the recent economic crisis and restored stability, it is still a good time to invest as there is an enormous scope for foreign direct investment in a host of sectors.
These Sectors are manufacture of automobile accessories, value addition to mineral sands, agriculture products such as manufacture of tomato puree, dairy industry through expansion of farmer cooperatives in addition to information technology, tourism, and renewable energy.
Past President T.S. Prakash said Sri Lanka could expand the dairy sector taking lessons from the success story of Amul in India by using farmer cooperatives for production and collection of milk.
The Indian CEOs, referring to their experience of doing business in Sri Lanka for decades, said that entrepreneurs in Indian states are willing to invest in Sri Lanka to manufacture products for the huge Indian market.
Reddy thanked the Prime Minister for the continuous support extended to the India Sri Lanka Society for its activities to promote cooperation between the two countries.
The Sri Lanka India Society, established in 1949 is one of the oldest and largest friendship societies in Sri Lanka dedicated to strengthening economic cooperation
