Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said some of the government controlled entities such as Hilton Hotel and the Grand Hyatt and Lanka Hospitals will be open for partnerships soon.
Speaking at the ICF CEO Forum held at the Taj Samudra he said that he hopes make Port City a financial city with a separate monetary system with a separate judicial system.
He stated that the country has two airports and two harbours where there is potential for transshipment cargo and this could be a potential investment opportunity for India. He also mentioned Hambantota, Galle, Kandy and Trincomalee as potential areas for investment. The PM said they will focus on the privatisation of government entities. He stated that they have found 1.3 trillion worth of debts in the public sector that had been hidden away.Thus he said that they would be looking at public - private partnerships that they have already begun with Sri Lankan Airlines.
“We have looked at the country to separate certain regions for this, however relocating already established businesses will be a difficult task.Therefore we have decided that the port city will be a place of business where there is ease for anyone to do business thereby making Sri Lanka a business hub,” he said.
He also stated that Sri Lanka needs to restructure its economy with a stronger middle class. He stated that the country has join the global value chain. “Through the tourism industry we have been reaping short term benefits.However we need to see past that, there is plenty of room investment in Sri Lanka we believe that it is only through the increase of infrastructure that we would be able to move forward. We have started massive projects like the Megalopolis which has so much of potential investments,” he said.
He mentioned that with the Budget coming at hand their evaluation on the monetary aspects of the country has shown that the amount evaluated adds up to more than five to six times the amount that they have anticipated. He stated that this will amount to a 5.5% growth.
It was mentioned in the forum that Sri Lanka should focus on human resources and power generation.
The Prime minister stated that they have agreed on four free trade agreements with China, Singapore and India. It was mentioned that India has already begun discussions with regard to it.
Indian High Commissioner Y.K. Sinha said the Indian government will aid Sri Lanka in rebuilding the northern Railway and helping the development of train and ferry services in Sri Lanka that will facilitate the ease of transport between the two countries.
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So will the government re
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