De La Rue injects further Rs. 2 b in foreign direct investment to upgrade local plant

Tuesday, 7 August 2018 00:15 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

De La Rue, the leading global identity and currency printing business that first entered into a Joint Venture (JV) with the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) 32 years ago, is currently enjoying a foreign direct investment program of Rs. 2 billion to upgrade its global capability. This facility was named as one of the five global Centres of Excellence for printing by De La Rue in 2015. The first phase of this program, an investment of almost Rs. 1 billion was recently completed to deploy ‘Single Note Inspection’ Machinery at De La Rue’s plant in Biyagama. With this deployment, stringent quality standards have been further upgraded to ensure all bank notes used by consumers are of a consistently high quality.

Additionally over Rs. 1.9 billion is put back into the local economy in the form of wages, taxes and other spend related to running the local facility and offers regular training to upskill local employees. This joint venture is one of the longest and most successful examples of inward investment in Sri Lanka.

The De La Rue Lanka plant in Biyagama prints over a billion banknotes a year and, alongside other sites, helps De La Rue support the currency, identity and authentication needs of over 140 countries worldwide, including Sri Lanka. As a joint venture with the GoSL, the success of the plant directly benefits GoSL through an annual dividend. Speaking at the celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of the joint venture in 2016, British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka James Dauris praised the success of the initiative, commenting, “The Sri Lankan Government’s original investment of Rs. 29 million has earned the country considerable dividends to date. In addition, the site employs over 300 highly skilled Sri Lankan employees and contributes every year to the local economy.”

Commenting on the new deployment, De La Rue Global Chief Operating Officer Bryan Gray said: “We continue to invest in our site in Sri Lanka, with over Rs. 7 billion invested in the past 10 years. This latest investment strengthens the capability on site, and our team continues to deliver a truly world-class service. Not only are we supporting the work of the Central Bank in Sri Lanka, but also are able to meet our global customers’ requirements from De La Rue Lanka.”