Sri Lanka’s biggest investor Dialog Axiata Group more bullish with $ 152.4 m expansion

Axiata Group Berhad Chairman Tan Sri Shahril Ridza Ridzuan (left) exchanges the agreement signed with Board of Investment Chairman Raja Edirisuriya. Others from left BOI Director General Renuka M. Weerakone, Axiata Group Berhad Joint Acting Group Chief Executive Officer, Telecommunications Business CEO/Group Executive Vice President Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Dialog Axiata Group Chief Executive/Director Supun Weerasinghe and Group Company Secretary Viranthi Attygalle

Dialog Axiata Group, the largest Foreign Direct Investor (FDI) operating under the aegis of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI), yesterday announced the entering into of two supplementary agreements with the BOI for the investment of an additional sum of $ 152.4 million (Rs. 56.7 billion) in Sri Lanka’s Telecommunications and ICT Infrastructure.

The investment comprises $ 112.8 million from Dialog Axiata and $ 39.6 million from its subsidiary Dialog Broadband Networks Ltd.

These agreements span a broad scope of telecommunications and ICT infrastructure development by the Dialog Axiata Group, encompassing the expansions of mobile and fixed 4G-LTE networks to provide rural and deep-indoor coverage, enhancement of big-data analytics and customer interaction capabilities, the evolution of IP and fibre networks, and the further development of the Group’s Wi-Fi and broadband networks. 

It is envisaged that these developments will offer more reliable and cost-effective internet connectivity, and significantly contribute to propelling the nation’s mobile telephone and fixed infrastructure to the forefront of innovation accelerating Sri Lanka into a digital nation. 

Dialog Axiata Group is a subsidiary group of companies of Axiata Group Berhad, Asia’s second largest Telco with operations spanning eight countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Singapore and India, and Axiata has been a committed and long-term investor in Sri Lanka since the inception of Dialog.

Dialog is Sri Lanka’s largest Foreign Direct Investor (FDI) with cumulative investments totalling $ 3.1 billion. In this regard, it has been recognised by BOI as the first company to invest $ 1 billion in the country.

BOI Chairman Raja Edirisuriya said: “Dialog Axiata has been instrumental in progressing our nation towards becoming a formidable next-generation digital infrastructure champion in a global setting. As the largest foreign investor in the country, Axiata has been a consistent and key enabler of this journey, even amid uncertainties.

“We are pleased to see the continued investments and unwavering commitment by the company which exemplifies the innumerable opportunities available in Sri Lanka to foreign investors who believe in and are willing to invest in the nation with a focus of capturing long-term value.”

Axiata Group Berhad Chairman Independent Non-Executive Director Tan Sri Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said: “As the largest FDI in Sri Lanka, this latest investment agreement bears testimony to Axiata’s continued confidence in the nation and our commitment to Sri Lanka and its people. 

“We consider Sri Lanka to be one of the key innovation hubs, where Dialog has achieved many region firsts, staying true to its ethos of delivering ‘The Future. Today.’ As always, we greatly value our long-standing partnership with the Board of Investment and remain committed to investing in Sri Lanka to accelerate the country into a Digital Nation.”