Sri Lanka Investment Forum concludes with over 4,500 participants

SLIF Co-Hosts: (From left) Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, BOI Chairman Sanjaya Mohottala and CSE Chairman Dumith Fernando 

The 2021 Invest Sri Lanka Forum, organised by the Board of Investment, The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Colombo Stock Exchange, which commenced on Monday, 7 June, concluded successfully on Wednesday.

Asia’s first-ever virtual investment forum was held with foreign participation of 2,200 from 85 countries and 2,500 local participants. The conference consisted of 118 insightful sessions with 108 local and foreign dignitaries, leading entrepreneurs and global experts joining to share information on foreign investment opportunities in Sri Lanka.

The forum was inaugurated by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who shared his vision for the spawning of a decade of growth culminating in the doubling of the economy. He further pointed to the pivotal role local and foreign investors would play in the rapid transformation of the economy to reach a per capita income of $ 8,000 within the current decade.

In inviting global investors to participate in Sri Lanka’s decade of growth, the President encouraged investors to seize the window of opportunity to leverage on Sri Lanka’s strategic location as the gateway to South Asia, high quality human resources, unique tourism potential, progressive policy environment and inherent political stability, among other factors.

Day 2 of the event was inaugurated by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who stated that Sri Lanka has embarked on a wide range of development initiatives to encourage investment and has created a conducive business environment. Day 3 was inaugurated by State Minister for Money and Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reform Ajith Nivard Cabraal.

The forum was streamed globally through Microsoft Teams and YouTube platforms accommodating multiple time zones as well as Dialog TV and Peo TV for Sri Lankan Television audiences. SLIF 2021 generated a rich content of significant value to current and potential Investors. Forum sessions can be accessed via www.invest-srilanka.lk in replay mode.

In addition to the comprehensive coverage of policy topics and deep dive sessions on sectoral opportunities and enabling environments over three days, the forum was enriched by a broad spectrum of investor testimonials from across FDI and portfolio spheres, and contributions from a galaxy of international speakers.

Further, investment opportunities and concessions in various economic sectors as well as the favourable climate for Sri Lankan capital markets, in particular equities, were examined over several sessions. Country specific sessions designed for investors from China, Japan, India, South Korea, United Kingdom, European Union and United States were also held during the forum.

SLIF 2021 was supported by the following partners and sponsors: International Finance Corporation (Knowledge Partner), Boston Consulting Group ( Strategic Partner), Port City Sri Lanka (Flagship Project Partner), Microsoft (Technology Partner), HSBC (Banking Partner), Asia Securities (Platinum Sponsor), Shangri-La (Hospitability Partner), SLASSCOM (IT-BPM Sector Partner), FairFirst Insurance (Insurance Partner), Dialog (Communication Partner), Citibank (Gold Sponsor), CAL (Gold Sponsor), NSB Fund Management (Silver Sponsor), CT CLSA (Silver Sponsor), NDBIB (Silver Sponsor), Melstacorp (Bronze Sponsor), Softlogic Stockbrokers (Bronze Sponsor), CIMA (Skills Development Partner) and CFA Sri Lanka (Investment Professionals Partner).