Rishad, BoI work German investors in Frankfurt

• Germany is the largest Eurozone investor in SL
• “We are going for 30% investment rate”: Rishad
• “Use the BIT between both countries”: BoI

Its latest GDP growth rates might have been revised, but Sri Lanka has firmly set its investment rate targets. “We are expecting Sri Lanka’s GDP to grow by around 7% in 2013, but more importantly, we want to boost our investment rate to 30% of GDP,” said Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen in Frankfurt on 25 February.

Bathiudeen was addressing the Parallel Session dedicated to Sri Lanka at 2013 DAW Asia Pacific Forum held on 25 February at  Maritim Hotel in Frankfurt, Germany. For the first time in DAW Forum series, in its latest 2013 sessions, Sri Lanka has been upgraded to a “representing country slot” alongside the only other Asian nation to be picked for this year, Vietnam.

This year’s DAW Forum also featured a special ‘Sri Lanka only’ parallel session attended by keen German investors bullish on Sri Lanka, at which Minister Bathiudeen was making his representation on 25 February.

President of DAW Bodo Kruger, Dr. Vu Huy Hoang the Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade, Dr. Naomi Chakwin (Resident Director General – ADB EU Rep office), Roland Schwinn (Executive Director – Asia and Middle East, Duetsche Borse Group), Florian Rentsch (Minister of Economics, State of Hesse), Prof. Dr. Eberhard Sandschneider (Director – DGAP, German Council of Foreign Relations), and Amb. Jurgen Weerth (former Ambassador of Germany of Sri Lanka), Mark Orangel from Swiss Chamber of Commerce, Maria Deutsch from City Promotion Yokohoma, and Sarath Kongahage (Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Germany), were in attendance.

Among the Sri Lanka team members were reps from BoI, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and Sri Lanka’s Consul General in Frankfurt Pradeep Jayewardene and Minister Commercial G. Gnanatheva.

The keen German firms attending the Forum were Eurex Frankfurt AG, Duetsche Borse Group, IVP Group Germany GMBH, Asico Handels GMBH, MAZARS GMBH, Adam Opel AG, SWB GMBH, LUTHER LLP, VietinBank, and Rigging Service GMBH, among many others.

“A noticeable change is seen in sector-wise composition of FDI inflows as a result of investment initiatives adopted by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Hotels and restaurant sector (20%) attracted most FDI inflows in the last two years, followed by the Telecommunication sector (18%), which used to be the dominant sector in recent years. The World Bank Doing Business indicators show favourable values on the factors of ‘Starting a Business,’ ‘Resolving Insolvency,’ ‘Protecting investors,’ and ‘Trading Across Borders’ for Sri Lanka,” Minister Bathiudeen said.

Germany is the leading EU investor in Sri Lanka. According to the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, more than 170 German investment projects are in operation in the country. Among leading German firms in Sri Lanka are BASF Finlay and Kramsky GMBH. German investments in Sri Lanka are protected by the bilateral Investment Protection Guarantee Agreement. Germany is Sri Lanka’s sixth largest export partner in 2011. In 2012 bilateral trade stood at $ 771.69 m rising from $ 449 m in 2005 by 139%.

“Sri Lanka’s new economic growth achievement is focused on the five hubs concept – namely, maritime, aviation, commercial, knowledge and energy hubs. Apart from this, high growth in tourism has also opened investment possibilities in this sector,” said Nilupul De Silva, Director of BoI, who gave a comprehensive (macro) presentation of Sri Lanka’s investment regime to the keen German investors.

“We invite you to take advantage of the Bilateral Investment Treaty between Sri Lanka and Germany. As a result, your investment in Sri Lanka is guaranteed by no less than our Constitution itself,” she added.