Rishad invites US firms to benefit from Sri Lanka’s strong post-war growth potential

Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen yesterday urged US companies to invest in Sri Lanka to benefit from the strong post-war growth potential.

“I strongly believe that post war Sri Lanka packs considerable untapped potential in trade collaboration between the two countries,” Minister Bathiudeen said hosting a top-level visiting US business delegation for lunch in Colombo.

He said that high level delegation comprising over a dozen US companies could act as the front-runner to harness the untapped potential for greater bilateral ties.

Minister Bathiudeen also invited the US companies to join Sri Lanka’s new journey and further strengthen the strong foundation that was already laid through centuries old US – Sri Lanka economic relations.

“As the Minister of Industry & Commerce, I would be more than happy to extend you my fullest support and cooperation to this end,” Bathiudeen added in his remarks at the luncheon also attended by Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US Jaliya Wickremesuriya, External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunathilleke Amunugama, Tilak Collure, Secretary to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and Edward Heartney, (Chief, Economic and Commercial Section, US Embassy.

Among the delegation which arrived early this week are Boeing, Caterpillar, John Deer, AGL Partners, Venture Global, AECOM, Program Rail Service EMD, Burson Marsteller, Coca Cola and ASBI Corporation. These companies were exploring opportunities for investments and businesses in infrastructure sectors such as air transportation, roads, railway, as well as IT, renewable energy, communication, real estate.

Minister Bathiudeen said the geo-strategic placement of Sri Lanka among Asia’s rising powers opens new doors of opportunities for US companies to leverage it as an international hub.

“What is fascinating is that you will be able to leverage it through a multitude of ways—logistically, financially, technologically, marketing and commercial, and even as a knowledge hub. To this end, the government has commenced many large scale infrastructure projects to upgrade and rebuild the country so that our competitiveness is ensured in the global arena. Some such large scale projects are in the sectors of power and energy and transport — such as highways, port and airport development,” the Minister said.  

He updated the visiting US delegation about great strides Sri Lanka has made since the end of the war in May 2009.

“I am happy to inform you that Sri Lanka has recorded a promising 8.1% economic growth in 2010 and is expected to grow even faster in the coming years at an estimated 9% in 2012 to 2013. In parallel, our per capita GDP in 2010 too increased by a strong 16.6% to US $ 2399” Minister Bathiudeen said.

 “The 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, jointly issued by the Wall Street Journal and Washington based think tank “Heritage Foundation”, confirms that Sri Lanka’s economic freedom score at 57.1. The increased score for 2011 reflects ‘major gains in trade, monetary, and investment freedom’. Sri Lanka is also ranked 19th out of 41 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and Sri Lanka’s improvement is one of the 10 largest in the 2011 Index” Minister Bathiudeen said.  

Speaking about the trade relations between two countries, Minister Bathiudeen said: “Sri Lanka continues to enjoy extremely cordial relations with the United States. In 2010, 22% of our exports that is 1.8 billion US $, headed to the US thereby the USA continuing to remain our single largest export destination. Sri Lanka also holds considerable investments coming from the US across many industries and services.  However, it is clear that there is much room for further improvement on the investment front,” he added.