President to fast-track approval of investments, projects to spur higher economic growth

 President Anura Kumara Dissanayake

• Securing approval for investment requires clearance from 82 different institutions over 2.5 years
• 11 institutions involved and 269 days taken for environmental approvals alone, new Govt. plans to reduce it to less than 82 days
• BOI currently takes around 80 days for approval; new goal less than two weeks
• President confident of country achieving over 4% economic growth in 2025

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Tuesday assured to expedite approval of new investments by simplifying procedures as part of aiming to achieve higher economic growth.

Speaking at the inauguration of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce-organised Sri Lanka Economic Summit, the President detailed the longer time taken for various approvals. 

“We recently held an in-depth discussion with Ministry Secretaries and Government officials from institutions related to investments. During this meeting, it was revealed that securing approval for an investment in Sri Lanka requires clearance from 82 different institutions. According to the report, obtaining these approvals currently takes over two and a half years,” Dissanayake said during a Fireside Chat with The Ceylon Chamber Deputy Chairman Bingumal Thewarathanthri.

“For environmental approvals alone, there are 11 institutions involved, and the process takes approximately 269 days. In practical terms, this exceeds two years. The Government plans to reduce this timeline to less than 82 days,” assured the President.

Similarly, an investment project requires approvals from eight additional institutions, which currently takes around 184 weeks. “We aim to reduce this to 102 days,” he added.

For evaluating and making decisions on a project, the Board of Investment (BOI) currently takes around 80 days. The President said the goal is to streamline this process to less than two weeks. 

He charged that previous Governments failed to attract investments effectively, and the BOI has not operated efficiently. “To address these issues, a new structure has been proposed through the Economic Transformation Act. However, this Act currently lacks a comprehensive implementation mechanism. The present Government intends to move forward with the Act, incorporating necessary amendments,” revealed Dissanayake. 

“If we expect a higher rate of economic growth, we must ensure that all necessary facilities and processes for attracting foreign direct investment are efficient and investor-friendly,” Dissanayake emphasised.

The Government anticipates an economic growth rate exceeding 4% this year as against 5% last year from a low base in 2023.

“While this [4% growth] is a challenging target in the face of recent economic downturns, we view it as achievable. We are prioritising several key sectors to ensure success in this endeavour,” the President told the Economic Summit inauguration, attended by over 700 persons.

“We also have a significant opportunity to achieve rapid growth in the tourism sector. This year, we aim to attract over 3 million tourists to Sri Lanka,” he said.

The President also spoke of potential for substantial growth in the information technology and maritime sectors.

According to him, operations at the Colombo Port’s Western Terminal are set to commence in March, and operations at the Eastern Terminal by July.

“This will contribute to notable economic progress in the maritime sector. We have identified several key sectors that must be prioritised to achieve our desired economic growth, and we are confident in our ability to meet these goals,” Dissanayake said.