BOI begins search for PR firm

The Board of Investment (BOI) has begun its search for a Public Relations (PR) firm to position Sri Lanka locally and internationally to attract more Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs).

It has called for Requests for Proposals (RFP) from qualified and reputed companies.

The mandate is to position Sri Lanka as a preferred investment destination for global investors and to establish the BOI as the apex investment promotion agency.

As per the RFP requirement, the eligible firms have to position Sri Lanka firmly in the eyes of the investors as a destination that is investor friendly and able to cater to their investment needs in a timely, efficient and speedy manner. 

Secondly, through this PR exercise, it hopes to achieve a consistent and multi-channel PR approach to build a unifying image for BOI and curate an ongoing dialogue with all of its stakeholders and communities of interest over traditional and non-traditional mediums, which is of vital importance.

The initial period of the contract is one year, and is to be extended based on the performance. Proposals have been sought by 5 October.  The selection will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding Procedure.

A spokesman for BOI said despite the macro challenges the country was facing due to the COVID pandemic, many initiatives had been implemented to improve the investment climate, spanning from policy and legal reforms to digitisation of processes.

“This drive also includes positioning Sri Lanka compellingly and competitively as the BOI targets and attracting FDI to the country. It is essential therefore that Sri Lanka be portrayed accurately as a preferred investment destination,” the spokesman said.

“This is even more important in an environment where attention-grabbing headlines dominate. This is why it requires a holistic management of Sri Lanka’s image as an attractive investment destination both globally and locally,” he added.

BOI said together with the close collaboration of its ecosystem that includes embassies and high commissions, it must also take multiple thrusts, strategies and channels into acute consideration to build this image cohesively and consistently, retaining relevance against other competing international promotion agencies all the while.

“We believe this is the opportune moment for such targeted and unifying image building activity to take place, on the back of a successful Sri Lanka Investor Forum (SLIF) that was held recently, given that the country will soon experience a promising inflection point, with the successful efforts of the national vaccination drive taking effect and paving the way for us to inch closer to open borders and full economic activity,” the BOI Spokesman said.