President to establish Economic Commission to boost investments

• Declares open Rs. 490 m country’s first migratory bird park and eco-tourism zone in Hanthane

President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday asserted that the proposed Economic Commission will be established soon to expedite investment approvals and boost opportunities for local and foreign investors.

“Instead of the Board of Investment and the Export Development Board we should appoint an Economic Commission and come to a system of approving investments through one agency,” he said opening the country’s first migratory bird park and eco-tourism zone in Hanthane, Kandy yesterday.

Noting that an Economic Commission has the potential to significantly boost the country’s economy, President Wickremesinghe said Investment Promotion State Minister Dilum Amunugama has been assigned to speed up the process to establish it.

He also said the report to establish the Economic Commission be available within the next two to three weeks. “We hope to implement it in the immediate future,” he added.

The President also appreciated the work of everyone to open up this bird park by adding value to the tourists.

The Budget 2023 proposed that the BOI and the EDB are to be merged into a single Commission, whilst in January the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal to appoint a supervisory committee to manage and guide the activities for the establishment of the said commission.

President Wickremesinghe insisted it was critical to have manufacturing-led exports and technical sectors be developed under a new economic plan. “More chances for domestic and international investment should be provided for that,” he added.

Reiterating that the economy will not grow if it takes a foreign investor 10 years to arrive and begin investing in Sri Lanka, he insisted that investment opportunities are necessary for Sri Lanka to embark on a new economic growth path.

“Late President J.R. Jayawardena passed the Greater Colombo Economic Plan in a short period of three months and Sri Lanka got its economic benefits. Late President R. Premadasa approved the 200 garment industries program in three weeks. In this way, if the investment opportunities are not increased, it is not possible to strengthen the economy of Sri Lanka,” Wickremesinghe stressed.

Migratory Bird Park and Ecotourism Zone Chairman Nishantha Kottegoda said the park is an investment of Rs. 490 million, and the project was initiated under the “Yali Pubudamu Sri Lanka” program.

The exotic birds are housed in large cages and the animals are cared for by a group of nearly 100 workers. Adjacent to the Hantane Tea Museum premises, a 27-acre exotic bird park and eco-tourism zone is home to over a hundred species of migratory birds. This park has been established based on a study of birds that are not native to Sri Lanka for 40 years. It is also special that many exotic birds can be bred in this country.

In the first phase of the Bird Park and eco-tourism zone, facilities for local and foreign tourists to see migratory birds, an educational training centre for zoology students, a bird orphanage, a bird home and a quarantine unit have been established.

Kottegoda said there is also a unit to treat and release injured birds in the park, which consists of birds native to foreign countries, migratory birds, etc. The park also has a unit for breeding and exporting exotic birds, an educational and recreational centre for school students and a study of natural birds.

State Ministers Dilum Amunugama, Lohan Ratwatte, Anuradha Jayaratne, MPs Dr. Nalaka Kottegoda, President’s Senior Advisor on National Security and President’s Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayake, Central Province Governor Lalith U. Gamage, Migratory Bird Park and Ecotourism Zone Chairman Nishantha Kottegoda and other officials participated in this event.