Sri Lanka has a high potential and all advantages to be developed as the economic hub of Asia and to be developed as a maritime hub of the world, Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran said.
The Governor was addressing the Second International Investment Promotion Forum of the Eastern Province yesterday in Colombo. The form was held under the theme "Creating Conducting Environment for Investment and Employment Creation in Eastern Sri Lanka".
Mahendran said Sri Lanka can utilize this high potential to become a maritime hub when considering the geographical location of the country. Around 24 percent of the world container traffic from East to West goes though the Colombo port area,Mahendran said.
"When concerning the tremendous growth of containerised shipping in the world context, the country can obtain the advantage of this growth easily. Accordingly, 95 percent of cargo is transported around the world through containerised shipping.
On the other hand 24 percent of sea cargo is transported through the Colombo port. Ships to Pakistan, India and Bangladesh also go through the Colombo port" he said.
He said that Sri Lanka is situated in a nerve centre for shipping. Therefore, the country can fill the gap between Singapore and Dubai in terms of handling very large ships. The Colombo port is in the capacity to cater to the deepest and largest container ships in the world.
"Invest-In-East - 2016? - the special investment promotion program focusing the Eastern Province is held at a time when the Government has formulated a plan for the economic transformation of Sri Lanka.
The Eastern Province has a lot of potential and resources to attract foreign investors.
Therefore, a program of this type offers an opportunity to the investors to explore opportunities available in the region.
In this regard, the Eastern Provincial Council has compiled several project proposals in areas covering agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, tourism and small industries.
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With a good population and
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