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Wednesday, 17 January 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Chinese billionaire Cai Xiaoru, who is one of China’s youngest and leading businessmen, arrived in Sri Lanka last week to seal a new partnership with SupremeSAT and explore new
investments in the country. Xiaoru is well known for his judgment on
market certainty and large-scale acquisitions to trigger rapid business growth. He believes that Sri Lanka is full of potential and great
opportunities. Following are excerpts:
Q: Is this your first time in
Sri Lanka?
A: Yes this my first time.
Q: Why did you decide to come to
Sri Lanka?
A: This is a very great country and there are a lot of opportunities for investments, therefore we have decided to come invest in this beautiful country – especiallybecause we have a very good partnership with SupremeSAT. It is also quite successful so we would like to further cooperate with this partner.
Q: How did you meet SupremeSAT first? Was it in China?
A: I met them first in China because we’ve had the cooperation with SupremeSAT in the past few years.
Q: How are their facilities in
Sri Lanka?
A: Their facilities in Sri Lanka are fantastic.
Q: What do you think of Sri Lanka? From the airport to the country as a whole, how do you see the country?
A: I see a lot of new infrastructure. After the cooperation with China the country can accelerate the speed and it will be excellent in the next few years.
Q: How do you see Sri Lanka’s role in the China-championed Belt and Road Initiative?
A: It is very important because this is the key country between China, Europe and Africa and it’s in the middle of the whole Indian Ocean. Also the Chinese Government is highly supporting Sri Lanka in its bigger role in the One Belt Initiative.
Q: So what are your plans in
Sri Lanka other than SupremeSAT? Are there any other areas that you are looking into?
A: Yes I am looking into the tourism sector, real estateand transportation, especially as transportation and infrastructure have larger room.
Q: In tourism, are you planning on building hotels or buying hotels?
A: There are a lot of opportunities in infrastructure such as sight-seeing spots that I am hoping to invest in.
Q: How are you planning on
investing in sight-seeing areas? Do you plan on developing such places?
A: My idea is to show the very special things the areas have to offer to foreigners.
Q: You want people to come see the yet unexplored areas, is it?
A: Yes
Q: What about the energy sector?
A: This is already invested in by the Chinese Government. High-tech and tourism are my main focus.
Q: You met our President; what was his reaction and what did you think of him?
A: He is very supportive and paid a lot of attention towards this cooperation and has quite a high expectation in relation to future developments.
Q: So you will be getting Government support now?
A: Yes, there will be no problems.
Q: When are you planning to come to Sri Lanka again?
A: Very soon. We will be visiting very frequently.
Q: From the business in China, what was the turning point that led you to become a millionaire and what message do you have to give?
A: We have worked together and had a good time working in China as it is moving very fast. Therefore I’ve had this personal success. We hope that Sri Lanka will be more and more open to the foreign investments and we are looking forward for more opportunities as it is safe to invest in Sri Lanka.
