Italians to invest in tourism in Sri Lanka

Bolzano President South Tyrol, Italy Dr. Luis Durnwalder, has expressed his intention to invest six million Dollars to establish a Tourism Centre in Sri Lanka to promote tourism in the island.

Durnwalder mentioned this at a meeting with an Italian delegation, and the ministry at the Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s office.

The Italians will explore the facilities available here for investments in the specific area. Dr. Durnwalder welcomed, the steps Sri Lanka had taken towards the countries development, required for tourism promotion.

Making a special note of the progress in the road network, he said that the country had all facilities tourists need.

“When tourism develops, many foreign students are bound to visit the country,” he predicted. Durnwalder and his team had visited several places to select the best location to establish a tourism centre in the island.

Minister Basil Rajapaksa stressed the need of introducing new courses to students, in the field of tourism and stated that the Government has taken up the responsibility of building infrastructure facilities, in providing food and security for tourists.

“Providing accommodation for tourists in private homes has also become very popular among locals,” he said.

He also briefed the visitors of the Government’s development policy and the ‘Divi Neguma’ National program aimed at eradicating poverty in the country.

Drawing attention to the completion of the Southern Expressway, he also explained that the Northern Expressway and the Colombo-Katunayake Expressway were already under construction.

The Minister added that Sri Lanka was now focusing on generating electricity through solar power and bio-gas, since hydro-electricity was not enough to meet the country’s power requirements.