Coke keen on using Sri Lanka as production hub: Ravi K

Global giant Coca Cola is keen to use Sri Lanka as a production hub, the Finance Ministry said yesterday.

It said this expression of interest was conveyed by Coca Cola Asia Pacific President and Executive Vice President met Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake in Colombo over the weekend.

Coca-Cola Asia Pacific Group President John Murphy and its Executive Vice President Irial Finan notified the Sri Lankan Finance Minister that they were ready to develop Sri Lanka as a production hub in the region. “They pointed out that Sri Lanka could be developed into a production hub to re-export their products to India. 

India has the highest demand for Coca-Cola products in the South Asian region. The two officials pointed out that Sri Lanka could earn a huge sum of foreign exchange while generating job opportunities for the youth,” the statement said. 

The two Coca-Cola officials also spoke with Minister Karunanayake about the use of Sri Lanka’s natural water resources and tea-related products to manufacture Coca-Cola brands and re-export the final products.

“Murphy and Finan were concerned about the stability of the rate of taxation on foreign investment. They were also happy that the Government was maintaining cordial relations with foreign investors in the country,” the statement added. 

In India in February last year, the soft drink giant decided to suspend bottling operations at three units located in three different states of the country, including its second-largest plant, according to international reports. One of these units, located in the city of Kaladera in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, had been the target of a years-long community-led campaign that blamed the company for exacerbating water shortages in the area. Coca-Cola said the plant closure was due to long-term economic non-viability.