Time for a Lankan corporate to be in Morgan Stanley Index’: Rishad

 Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen (third from right) at the launch of ‘The Report: Sri Lanka 2016’ by Oxford Business Group (OBG) joined by BoI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya (far left), OBG Managing Editor Paulius Kuncinas (second from left) and Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva (far right) on 1 August in Colombo

It is time that the high performing Sri Lankan corporate sector is featured in global market classifications. In this light, Sri Lanka is proud to be part of the 23 country frontier country market group announced this June by a leading global financial services firm, according to Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka Rishad Bathiudeen.

“The Report: Sri Lanka 2016 comes at a time when Sri Lanka as a frontier market is part of the positively performing 23 frontier countries,” said Minister Rishad Bathiudeen. He was addressing the launch event of first country report titled ‘The Report: Sri Lanka 2016’ by Oxford Business Group (OBG) – a global publishing, research and consultancy firm on 1 August in Colombo.

Minister Bathiudeen praised OBG for its Sri Lankan initiative. “I am given to understand that the first ever Report on Sri Lanka by an internationally acclaimed publishing and consultancy group the Oxford Business Group is also a much awaited milestone with a comprehensive overview of key investment opportunities for both domestic and international investors at this crucial time for global economy. The Report: Sri Lanka 2016 also comes at an important time for our country as well, since we position ourselves for major economic reforms envisioned by the Unity Government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,” said Minister Bathiudeen

“In fact, I am pleased that the OBG report is coming at a time when Sri Lanka also, as a frontier market, is part of the positively performing 23 frontier countries. The Morgan Stanley Frontier Market Index of June this year includes Sri Lanka among the 23 frontier markets, with positive performance. The MCSI Frontier Market Index reveals gross returns in its overall index performance at 1.4% for three year annualised performance and even higher 1.84% for five year annualised performance of all the frontier markets which Sri Lanka is a part of,” he added.

“We can be proud of our contribution as a member of this 23 country group in MCSI Frontier Market Index’ performance. I believe that there is also scope for our corporate sector to introduce Sri Lanka a winner to the top 10 MCSI FMI firms in the coming years. Our Unity Government is making every effort to transform Sri Lanka into a modern and prosperous economy that offers inclusive growth, fair rules of engagement, for both domestic and international investors. Sri Lanka is blessed by placement of its strategic location in South Asia. 

“It is fortunate to have enterprising and talented people as well as rich history culture and a beautiful environment. It continues to attract international investors in logistics, transport, finance, tourism, manufacturing, ICT and construction sectors.”

Three Kuwaiti firms, three Argentinean firms, a Kenyan firm (SAFARICOM) and a Nigerian beer firm (Nigerian Breweries) are among the top 10 MCSI FM corporates in June. Morgan Stanley’s Frontier Markets Index captures large and mid-cap representation across 23 Frontier Markets (FM) countries – Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Tunisia and Vietnam. The multinational Morgan Stanley has offices in more than 43 countries.