Malaysia to remain major foreign investor in Sri Lanka

Malaysia is expected to remain one of the major foreign investors in Sri Lanka in five to ten years, a Sri Lankan official has said, according to local media on Friday.

Several Malaysian companies have shown interest in investing in Sri Lanka and are now in discussions with its Board of Investment, local newspaper The Star quoted Dr. Dayananda Ranasinghe, Sri Lankas High Commissioner in Malaysia, as saying.

The sectors they are interested include tourism, infrastructure, education and financial services, he said after a seminar on Business and Investment Opportunities in Sri Lanka jointly organized by Malaysian Investment Development Authority and Sri Lanka here on Thursday.

At present, a number of Malaysian companies have been operating business in Sri Lanka in sectors such as telecommunications, agriculture and real estate development, he said.

He said the Sri Lankan Government is encouraging more Malaysian companies to invest in areas like infrastructure, tourism, education, logistical services, agriculture, manufacturing, rubber industry, business process outsourcing and software industry and jewellery industry.

The Government decided to make foreign direct investment (FDI) a main engine for its economic development and set targets to lure one billion U.S. dollars in FDI in 2010 while it was 889 million U. S. dollars at present, he said.

After three decades of internal unrest, Sri Lanka is now at the turning point both politically and economically, he said.