BOI to sign agreements with foreign investors for US$ 4 billion
Sri Lanka's investment promotion agency, Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) will sign agreements with four major foreign investors to setup factories for a total investment of US$ 4 billion, BOI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya said.
Addressing a stakeholder meeting at the BOI auditorium, the Chairman said Sri Lanka was able to secure US$ 1.6 billion worth of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) last year, but the agency now plans to sign more than US$ 4 billion worth of foreign investments with four major companies.
The four major deals will be for a gantry crane factory with ship building facility at the Colombo Port, US$ 30 million Volkswagen car assembly plant, ship breaking project at Hambantota and a monorail and control center.
The BOI Chairman said these agreements would be signed soon.
Speaking about the Volkswagen car assembly plant, the Chairman explained that it is not a big project but it is a footprint for other car manufacturers like Toyota and Nissan to follow.
He further explained that Sri Lanka with the inflow and many inquiries for foreign investors is in the process of building investor confidence and more interested in the quality of the investment than the amount.
However, he pointed out that Sri Lanka attracted only US$ 1.65 billion for the whole year 2014.
He said that to attract and facilitate more FDIs into the country they are now planning to setup 45 economic zones similar to free trade zones, which has more access to labor.
