34 investment zones to create half a million jobs: Sujeewa

The Government hopes to establish 34 Investment Promotion Zones island wide to create 500,000 job opportunities, State Minister of International Trade Sujeewa Senasinghe says.

The Government has focused attention on creating new employment opportunities throughout the country by setting up the new investment zones.

Minister Senasinghe said that the Government aims to develop the country with the help of modern technology and to fulfil this objective, several investment promotion zones will be established.

The Minister said talks were conducted recently at the Ministry for International Trade with South Korean state representatives and agents of several organisations to setup such an investment promotion zone in the Trincomalee district.

Representatives of the South Korean government and leading companies such as Hyundai and Samsung have participated in these discussions.

The Government hopes to generate 40,000 new employment opportunities through the investment promotion program.

The ultimate aim is to establish 34 investment promotion zones and to create 500,000 new jobs, according to the State Minister.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has pledged to launch an employment generation program to provide one million jobs in five years.