SL gets US$ 218 mn FDI in 1Q 2013

Sri Lanka has received US$ 218 million of foreign direct investments in the first quarter of 2013 and is targeting US$ two billion for the full year, Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Abeywardena said.

The money has come from 37 projects greater than a million US dollars and 144 projects smaller than a million US dollars.

The investors came from, Taiwan, Canada, Virgin Islands, Netherlands, Singapore, UK, Australia and India. Minister Abeywardena said Sri Lanka's Board of Investment had received a number of applications greater than US$ 300 million which were worth US $5 billion. He said Sri Lanka was targeting US$ two billion of FDIs this year. Abeywardena said special attention was being given to speed up approvals. Once approved, it took about two to five years for the FDI to flow into the country. (LBO)