SL must formulate quick policies to attract investments - Ambassador

Sri Lanka has the potential but does not have the policies to attract investments, Chinese Ambassador in Sri Lanka Yi Xianliang said.

Addressing the China- Sri Lanka Business Meeting for Investment and Trade held yesterday in Colombo the ambassador however expressed optimism that such policies will be formulated soon. Xianliang said if projects in the China-Sri Lanka industrial park project in Hambantota could be implemented well, the park could attract colossal investments as China’s investment in three to five years will top US$ 5 billion in the region.

The ambassador said at present they were only asking for 50 square kilometers of land for the industrial park project which will be situated behind the Hambantota port followed up with a inner city. He said negotiations were underway to set up an energy power generating plant, an oil refinery plant, a chemical fertilizer factory and a ship building facility.

He said the Chinese government and entrepreneurs trust the government and has confidence in Sri Lanka. The question now is whether the Sri Lankan government will expedite its policies.

Xianliang said the Chinese government and entrepreneurs has confidence in Sri Lanka. The question now is whether the Sri Lankan government can expedite the policies.

China’s investment to Sri Lanka is open and inclusive. The port city project had been suspended for a year and a half and that had cost a lot to China and Sri Lanka and he made it clear to the Sri Lankan President and the Prime Minister that it should not happen again. He expressed optimism that the future changes of governments in Sri Lanka will not affect the country’s investment policy in anyway.

The ambassador said last year out bound Chinese tourists reached 130 million and only 200,000 visited Sri Lanka. This year 300,000 Chinese have visited Sri Lanka so far and in the next five years it could exceed 1 million.

Xianliang said the out bound foreign investment from China was US$ 150 billion and if Sri Lanka could attract 1% of this it would still amount to US$1.5 billion.