South Korea to invest in Hambantota IT Park
Shirajiv SIRIMANE
Korean President Lee Myung-Bak agreed to provide his country's
assistance to the Information Technology Park currently being built in
Hambantota.
This was subsequent to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and
President Mahinda Rajapaksa holding a summit at the official residence
of the Korean President in Seoul to discuss ways to strengthen economic
and other cooperation between the two countries.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and South Korean President Lee-Myung-Bak
in South Korea |
“More than 20,000 Sri Lankan employees are currently contributing to
the economy of South Korea and the bilateral relations between Sri Lanka
and Korea would be further strengthened by the visit of President
Rajapaksa,” the Korean President said.
Sri Lanka today is able to provide a robust new investment
destination as a frontier country to the rest of the world said
President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
President Rajapaksa who is in Korea on a four-day official visit
speaking to four Korean conglomerates explained the current situation in
Sri Lanka and the vast opportunities for trade, investments and tourism
for Korean companies in the country.
The President invited Korean investors to make use of the investment
opportunities available in the country and also pointed out the
possibility of entering into a free trade agreement between the two
countries as Sri Lanka's exports to Korea has grown up to US $ 46
million last year.
“Sri Lankan economy grew by 8.3 percent in 2011, following an 8
percent growth in 2010. This was the first time that Sri Lanka recorded
an economic growth over 8 per cent in two consecutive years.
“This achievement is all the more significant because, it was
recorded at a time when many countries in the world had been affected by
the serious effects of the euro zone crisis and other macro economic
problems, which has pulled back their economies and drastically damaged
their financial systems.
“In that regard, let me also assure you that all our Sri Lankan
economic authorities are working hard to deliver such a sound macro
platform and a competitive environment so that all economic stakeholders
in our nation would continue to have confidence in our economy and
country.
“The main areas in which we are looking forward in welcoming new
investments are in the fields of infrastructure, port related
activities, aviation services, knowledge based industries, tourism and
leisure industry and commercial services,” he said.
“In all these investment decisions, our Board of Investment will be
able to assist you in choosing and implementing your projects and we
therefore, invite you to make use of these opportunities.
“Also to give you peace of mind, we will maintain our investor
protection policies, which will ensure that those who invest in our
country would have their investments protected by law.”The President
added “the government would implement the required policies so that you
could benefit by continuous sound macro fundamentals that would support
the growth momentum and stability of our nation.” |