Highest priority on foreign, local investment - President

by Anjana Samarasinghe

Sri Lankan government places the highest priority on the encouragement of both foreign and local investment and have instituted several practical measures to facilitate the investment process said President Mahinda Rajapakshe yesterday.

Speaking at the launch of the 300-factory program at BMICH yesterday President said that he is personally chairing a special Cabinet sub committee whose function is to speedily resolve any problems that the investors may face.

He said that the 300-factory program was launched to reduce the economic and social imbalance of the country and distribute the benefits of development throughout the different districts and divisions of the country some of which are lacking in employment opportunities, backward in development and deficient in growth. "Our goal is to establish 300 enterprises outside the relatively developed districts of Colombo and Gampaha," he said.

"This objective constitutes and underlying goal of the Mahinda Chintana the main policy of our government," he said.

He said that this program forms and important part of the Economic development and industrialisation policy of our government. "It is through the implementations of such programs such these we hope to achieve GDP growth of 8 percent per annum over the next 6 year period," he said.

This program conducted under the Ministry of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion and the Board of Investment saw 104 projects already getting off the ground yesterday. These 104 projects have provided employment opportunities for over 26,000 and with an investment commitment of Rs. 1.8 billion so far.

Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment promotion Rohitha Bogollagama, Minister of Industrial Development, Kumar Welgama Chairman/Director General of Board Of Investment BOI Lakshman R. Watawala, member of the Chambers and business community participated.